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Mi  Vm  |!^i  i(S 


THE  STATE 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY 
DOCTOR  FRANZ  OPPENHEIMER 


Die  Siedlungsgenossenschaft  .        •        •  •  1896 

Grossgrundeigentum  und  Soziale  Frage         .  .  1898 

Das  Grundgesetz  der  Marxschen  Gesellschaftslehre  1903 

Robertus'  Angriff  auf  Ricardos  Renten-theorie 

und  der  Lexis-Diehl'sche  Rettungsversuch  .  1908 

David  Ricardos  Grundrententheorie       .         .  .  1909 

Theorie  der  Reinen  und  Politischen  Okonoraie  .  1910 


THE  STATE 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  VIEWED 
SOCIOLOGICALLY 


By 

FRANZ  OPPENHEIMER,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D. 

Privat  Decent  of  Political  Sciences  in  the 
University  of  Berlin 


AUTHORIZED  TRANSLATION 

By 

JOHN  M.  GITTERMAN,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  B. 

(Of  the  New  York  County  Bar) 


■i.  7  Q  1  f! 

INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright  1914 
The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 


PRESS    Of 

BRAUNWORTH   &    CO. 

BOOKBINDERS    AND    PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN,    N.   Y. 


151 


/**'- 

u 


PREFACE 

The  State  first  appeared  in  Germany  in  1908.  Since 
then  a  Hungarian  edition  has  been  published,  a  French 
translation  has  been  made,  and  Roumanian  and  Italian 
translations  are  in  course  of  preparation. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  faculties  of  the 
great  German  universities  maintained  complete  silence 
about  this  work,  just  as  they  had  done  in  the  case  of 
most  of  the  author's  other  books,  while  in  the  meantime 
they  put  the  stamp  of  their  highest  approval  on  less 
worthy  publications.  But  despite  their  opposition  no 
less  an  authority  than  Herr  Adolph  Wagner,  Dean  of 
the  University  of  Berlin  and  foremost  among  German 
political  economists,  in  his  Handworterbuch  der  Staats- 
rvissenschaften,  in  the  course  of  the  paper  entitled  "Der 
Staat  in  Nationalokonomischer  Hinsicht,"  pronounced 
The  State  to  be  the  most  important  work  of  its  kind  ever 
published. 

An  epitome  of  Oppenheimer's  political  and  historical 
philosophy  is  contained  in  The  State.  One  may  say, 
indeed,  that  it  furnishes  a  perspective  of  his  imiversal 
philosophy,  seen  sub  specie  oeternitatis,  or,  as  Oppen- 
heimer  himself  puts  it,  seen  from  a  so-called  cosmic  dis- 
tance in  which  the  details  disappear  and  only  the  move- 
ment of  the  masS;  struggling  developing  humanity,  re- 

iii 


iv  PREFACE 

mains  visible.  Half  of  the  present  volume  contains  the 
author's  interpretation  of  sociology — an  integration  of 
political  and  historical  philosophy  on  the  one  hand,  with 
economic  pliilosophy  on  the  other.  In  a  book  published 
in  1910  under  the  title,  Theorie  der  Reinen  und  Poll- 
tisclien  Ohonomie:  Ein  Lehr-  und  Lesehucli  fiir  Studier- 
ende  und  Gebildete,  we  find  worked  out  some  of  the  eco- 
nomic questions  treated  of  in  The  State. 

As  a  result  of  his  work  the  author  has  acquired  a  great 
following  in  the  German  universities,  and  this  may  ac- 
count for  the  fact  that  a  number  of  years  ago  he  was 
installed  as  a  docent  of  economy  and  sociology  in  the 
University  of  Berlin. 

Doctor  Oppenheimer  believes  that  the  future  progress 
of  nations  will  be  in  the  direction  pointed  out  by  liberal 
socialism.  He  contends  that  we  can  and  probably  will 
establish  a  society  free  from  all  monopolistic  tendencies 
by  unfettering  competition,  which  to-day  is  far  from  free. 

Competition  is  now  enslaved  because  in  our  present 
society  there  exists  a  powerful  class  monopoly,  not  cre- 
ated through  economic  differentiation,  as  up  to  this  time 
students  of  the  question  have  believed,  but  through  polit- 
ical power.  This  class  monopoly  stands  between  the 
masses  and  the  land,  and  so  a  laboring  class  is  established 
which  may  be  influenced  by  the  upper  classes  because  it 
is  not  in  control  of  the  means  of  production  necessary  for 
carrying  on  its  work  in  its  own  interest.  This  land 
obstacle  is  known  legally  as  Gross grundeigentum — the 
personal  possession  of  unlimited  land  holdings.    Accord- 


PREFACE  V 

ing  to  Oppenheimer  the  right  to  hold  more  land  than 
one  through  his  own  efforts  and  the  efforts  of  his  family- 
can  properly  work  has  existed  only  because  of  political 
control,  can  not  exist  without  political  control,  and  is  the 
one  explanation  for  the  formation  of  all  monopolies  in 
human  society,  by  which  is  meant  ground  rents  and  profits 
to  capital.  Doctor  Oppenheimer  has  proved  his  theory 
through  a  new  and  very  original  analysis  of  the  whole 
conception  of  monopolies. 

If  the  transition  is  not  too  violent  it  may  be  better 
to  add  here,  so  as  to  avoid  possible  confusion,  an  explana- 
tion of  the  notes  in  this  volume.  All  foot-notes  are  re- 
ferred to  in  the  text  by  means  of  asterisks  (*),  while 
those  notes  which  will  be  found  gathered  together  at  the 
end  of  the  text  are  referred  to  by  means  of  Arabic 
numerals. 

— The  Translator 

Washington,  October  S,  1913. 


CONTENTS 


Translator's  Preface iii 

I    Theories  of  the  State 1 

The  Sociological  Idea  of  the  State  ....       15 

II    The  Genesis  of  the  State 22 

(a)  Pohtical  and  Economic  IMeans   ....       24 

(b)  Peoples  Without  a  State:  Huntsmen  and 

Grubbers 27 

(c)  Peoples  Preceding  the  State :  Herdsmen  and 

Vikings 33 

(d)  The  Genesis  of  the  State 51 

III  The  Primitive  Feudal  State 83 

(a)  The  Form  of  Dominion 82 

(b)  The  Integration 89 

(c)  The  Differentiation :  Group  Theories  and 

Group  Psychology 92 

(d)  The  Primitive  Feudal  State  of  Higher 

Grade 1«P 

IV  The  Maritime  State 121 

(a)  Traffic  in  Prehistoric  Times        .        .        .  .122 

(b)  Trade  and  the  Primitive  State    .         .         .  .135 

(c)  The  Genesis  of  the  Maritime  State     .         .  .140 

(d)  Essence  and  Issue  of  the  Maritime  States  .  .     155 

V   The  Development  of  the  Feudal  State      .         .         .  174 

(a)  The  Genesis  of  Landed  Property        .         .         .  174 

(b)  The  Central  Power  in  the  Primitive  Feudal  State  182 

(c)  The  Pohtical  and  Social  Disintegration  of 

the  Primitive  Feudal  State    .         .        .         .191 

(d)  The  Ethnic  Amalgamation  .         .         .         .213 

(e)  The  Developed  Feudal  State     .         .         .        .221 

VI    The  Development  of  the  Constitutional  State  .  .     229 

(a)  The  Emancipation  of  the  Peasantry  .         .  .231 

(b)  The  Genesis  of  the  Industrial  State   .         .  .236 

(c)  The  Influences  of  Money  Economy    .         .  .     243 

(d)  The  Modern  Constitutional  State      .         .  .257 

VII    The  Tendency  of  ^-he  Development  of  the  State       .     274 
Notes 293 


THE  STATE 


THE  STATE 

CHAPTER  I 

THEORIES   OF  THE   STATE 

This  treatise  regards  the  State  from  the 
sociological  standpoint  only,  not  from  the 
juristic — sociology,  as  I  understand  the  word, 
being  both  a  philosophy  of  history  and  a  theory 
of  economics.  Our  object  is  to  trace  the  de- 
velopment of  the  State  from  its  socio-psycho- 
logical  genesis  up  to  its  modern  constitutional 
forrrr  after  that,  we  shall  endeavor  to  present 
a  well-founded  prognosis  concerning  its  future 
development.  Since  we  shall  trace  only  the 
State's  inner,  essential  being,  we  need  not  con- 
cern ourselves  with  the  external  forms  of  law 
under  which  its  international  and  intra-na- 
tional  life  is  assumed.  This  treatise,  in  short, 
is  a  contribution  to  the  philosophy  of  State  de- 

1 


2  THE  STATE 

veloj^ment ;  but  only  in  so  far  as  the  law  of  de- 
velopment here  traced  from  its  generic  form 
affects  also  the  social  problems  common  to  all 
forms  of  the  modern  State. 

With  this  limitation  of  treatment  in  mind, 
we  may  at  the  outset  dismiss  all  received  doc- 
trines of  public  law.  Even  a  cursory  exami- 
nation of  conventional  theories  of  the  State  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  they  furnish  no  expla- 
nation of  its  genesis,  essence  and  purpose. 
These  theories  represent  all  possible  shadings 
between  all  imaginable  extremes.  Rousseau 
derives  the  State  from  a  social  contract,  while 
Carey  ascribes  its  origin  to  a  band  of  robbers. 
Plato  and  the  followers  of  Karl  INIarx  endow 
the  State  with  omnipotence,  making  it  the  ab- 
solute lord  over  the  citizen  in  all  political  and 
economic  matters;  while  Plato  even  goes  so 
far  as  to  wish  the  State  to  regulate  sexual  re- 
lations. The  JNIanchester  school,  on  the  other 
hand,  going  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  liberal- 
ism, would  have  the  State  exercise  only  need- 
ful police  functions,  and  would  thus  logically 
have  as  a  result  a  scientific  anarchism  which 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE        3 

must  utterly  exterminate  the  State.  From 
these  various  and  conflicting  views,  it  is  im- 
possible either  to  establish  a  fixed  principle, 
or  to  formulate  a  satisfactory  concept  of  the 
real  essence  of  the  State. 

This  irreconcilable  conflict  of  theories  is 
easily  explained  by  the  fact  that  none  of  the 
conventional  theories  treats  the  State  from 
the  sociological  view-point.  Nevertheless,  the 
State  is  a  phenomenon  common  to  all  history, 
and  its  essential  nature  can  only  be  made  plain 
by  a  broad  and  comprehensive  study  of  uni- 
versal history.  Except  in  the  field  of  soci- 
ology, the  king's  highway  of  science,  no  treat- 
ment of  the  State  has  heretofore  taken  this 
path.  All  previous  theories  of  the  State  have 
been  class  theories.  To  anticipate  somewhat 
the  outcome  of  our  researches,  eveiy  State  has 
been  and  is  a  class  State,  and  every  theory  of 
the  State  has  been  and  is  a  class  theory. 

A  class  theory  is,  however,  of  necessity,  not 
the  result  of  investigation  and  reason,  but  a 
by-product  of  desires  and  will.  Its  argmnents 
are  used,  not  to  establish  truth,  but  as  weapons 


4  THE  STATE 

in  the  contest  for  material  interests.  The  re- 
sult, therefore,  is  not  science,  but  nescience. 
By  understanding  the  State,  we  may  indeed 
recognize  the  essence  of  theories  concerning  the 
State.  But  the  converse  is  not  true.  An  un- 
derstanding of  theories  about  the  State  will 
give  us  no  clue  to  its  essence. 

The  following  may  be  stated  as  a  ruling  con- 
cept, especially  prevalent  in  university  teach- 
ing, of  the  origin  and  essence  of  the  State.  It 
represents  a  view  which,  in  spite  of  manifold 
attacks,  is  still  affirmed. 

It  is  maintained  that  the  State  is  an  o 
ganization  of  human  community  life,  which 
originates  by  reason  of  a  social  instinct  im- 
planted in  men  by  nature  (Stoic  Doctrine) ; 
or  else  is  brought  about  by  an  irresistible  im- 
pulse to  end  the  "war  of  all  against  all,"  and 
to  coerce  the  savage,  who  opposes  organized 
effort,  to  a  peaceable  community  life  in  place 
of  the  anti-social  struggle  in  which  all  budding 
shoots  of  advancement  are  destroyed  (Epi- 
curean Doctrine).  These  two  apparently  ir- 
reconcilable concepts  were  fused  by  the  in- 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE        5 

termediation  of  mediaeval  philosophy.  This, 
founded  on  theologic  reasoning  and  belief 
in  the  Bible,  developed  the  opinion  that 
man,  originally  and  by  nature  a  social  crea- 
ture, is,  through  original  sin,  the  fratricide  of 
Cain  and  the  transgression  at  the  tower  of 
Babel,  divided  into  innumerable  tribes,  which 
fight  to  the  hilt,  until  they  unite  peace- 
ably as  a  State. 

This  view  is  utterly  untenable.  It  confuses 
the  logical  concept  of  a  class  with  some  subor- 
dinate species  thereof.  Granted  that  the 
State  is  one  form  of  organized  political  co- 
hesion, it  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  it  is  a 
form  having  specific  characteristics.  Every 
state  in  history  was  or  is  a  state  of  classes,  a 
polity  of  superior  and  inferior  social  groups, 
based  upon  distinctions  either  of  rank  or  of 
property.  This  phenomenon  must,  then,  be 
called  the  "State."  With  it  alone  history  oc- 
cupies itself. 

We  should,  therefore,  be  justified  in  desig- 
nating every  other  form  of  political  organiza- 
tion by  the  same  term,  without  further  diff  eren- 


6  THE  STATE 

tiation,  had  there  never  existed  any  other  than 
a  class-state,  or  were  it  the  only  conceivable 
form.  At  least,  proof  might  properly  be 
called  for,  to  show  that  each  conceivable  politi- 
cal organization,  even  though  originally  it  did 
not  represent  a  polity  of  superior  and  inferior 
social  and  economic  classes,  since  it  is  of  neces- 
sity subject  to  inherent  laws  of  development, 
must  in  the  end  be  resolved  into  the  specific 
class  form  of  history.  Were  such  proof  forth- 
coming, it  would  offer  in  fact  only  one  form 
of  political  amalgamation,  calling  in  turn  for 
differentiation  at  various  stages  of  develop- 
ment, viz.,  the  preparatory  stage,  when  class 
distinction  does  not  exist,  and  the  stage  of 
maturity,  when  it  is  fully  developed. 

Former  students  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
State  were  dimly  aware  of  this  problem.  And 
they  tried  to  adduce  the  required  proof,  that 
because  of  inherent  tendencies  of  development, 
every  human  political  organization  must  grad- 
ually become  a  class-state.  Philosophers  of 
the  canon  law  handed  this  theory  down  to 
philosophers   of   the   law   of   nature.     From 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE        % 

these,  through  the  mediation  of  Rousseau,  it 
became  a  part  of  the  teachings  of  the  econo- 
mists ;  and  even  to  this  day  it  rules  their  views 
and  diverts  them  from  the  facts. 

This  assumed  proof  is  based  upon  the  con- 
cept of  a  "primitive  accumulation,"  or  an  origi- 
nal store  of  wealth,  in  lands  and  in  movable 
property,  brought  about  by  means  of  purely 
economic  forces;  a  doctrine  justly  derided  by 
Karl  Marx  as  a  "fairy  tale."  Its  scheme  of 
reasoning  approximates  this: 

Somewhere,  in  some  far-stretching,  fertile 
country,  a  number  of  free  men,  of  equal  status, 
form  a  union  for  mutual  protection.  Grad- 
ually they  differentiate  into  property  classes. 
Those  best  endowed  with  strength,  wisdom, 
capacity  for  saving,  industry  and  caution, 
slowly  acquire  a  basic  amount  of  real  or 
movable  property;  while  the  stupid  and  less 
efficient,  and  those  given  to  carelessness 
and  waste,  remain  without  possessions.  The 
well-to-do  lend  their  productive  property  to 
the  less  well-off  in  return  for  tribute,  either 
ground-rent  or  profit,  and  become  thereby  con- 


8  THE  STATE 

tinually  richer,  while  the  others  always  remain 
poor.  These  diiFerenees  in  possession  grad- 
ually develop  social  class  distinctions;  since 
everywhere  the  rich  have  preference,  while 
they  alone  have  the  time  and  the  means  to  de- 
vote to  public  affairs  and  to  turn  the  laws  ad- 
ministered by  them  to  their  own  advantage. 
Thus,  in  time,  there  develops  a  ruling  and 
property-owning  estate,  and  a  proletariate,  a 
class  without  property.  The  primitive  state 
of  free  and  equal  fellows  becomes  a  class-state, 
by  an  inherent  law  of  development,  because  in 
every  conceivable  mass  of  men  there  are,  as 
may  readily  be  seen,  strong  and  weak,  clever 
and  foolish,  cautious  and  wasteful  ones. 

This  seems  quite  plausible,  and  it  coincides 
with  the  experience  of  our  daily  life.  It  is  not 
at  all  unusual  to  see  an  especially  gifted  mem- 
ber of  the  lower  class  rise  from  his  former  sur- 
roundings, and  even  attain  a  leading  position 
in  the  upper  class;  or  conversely^  to  see  some 
spendthrift  or  weaker  member  of  the  higher 
group  "lose  his  class"  and  drop  into  the 
proletariate. 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE        9 

And  yet  this  entire  theory  is  utterly  mis- 
taken; it  is  a  *'fairy  tale,"  or  it  is  a  class  theory 
used  to  justify  the  privileges  of  the  upper 
classes.  The  class-state  never  originated  in 
this  fashion,  and  never  could  have  so  origi- 
nated. History  shows  that  it  did  not;  and 
economics  shows  deductively,  with  a  testimony 
absolute,  mathematical  and  binding,  that  it 
could  not.  A  simple  problem  in  elementary 
arithmetic  shows  that  the  assumption  of  an 
original  accumulation  is  totally  erroneous,  and 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  development  of  the 
class-state. 

The  proof  is  as  follows:     All  teachers  of  \ 
natural  law,  etc.,  have  unanimously  declared    \ 
that  the  differentiation  into  income-receiving^    I 
classes  and  propertyless  classes  can  only  take   / 
place  when  all  fertile  lands  have  been  occupied.  ' 
For  so  long  as  man  has  ample  opportunity  to 
take  up  unoccupied  land,  "no  one,"  says  Tur- 
got,  "would  think  of  entering  the  service  of 
another;"  we  may  add,  "at  least  for  wages, 
which  are  not  apt  to  be  higher  than  the  earn- 
ings of  an  independent  peasant  w^orking  an 


10  THE  STATE 

unmortgaged  and  sufficiently  large  property;" 
while  mortgaging  is  not  possible  as  long  as 
land  is  yet  free  for  the  working  or  taking,  as 
free  as  air  and  water.  Matter  that  is  obtain- 
able for  the  taking  has  no  value  that  enables 
it  to  be  pledged,  since  no  one  loans  on  things 
that  can  be  had  for  nothing. 

The  philosophers  of  natural  law,  then,  as- 
sumed that  complete  occupancy  of  the  ground 
must  have  occurred  quite  early,  because  of  the 
natural  increase  of  an  originally  small  popula- 
tion. They  were  under  the  impression  that 
at  their  time,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  it  liad 
taken  place  many  centuries  previous,  and  they 
naively  deduced  the  existing  class  aggroup- 
ment  from  the  assumed  conditions  of  that  long- 
past  point  of  time.  It  never  entered  their 
heads  to  work  out  their  problem ;  and  with  few 
exceptions  their  error  has  been  copied  by  soci- 
ologists, historians  and  economists.  It  is 
only  quite  recently  that  my  figures  were 
worked  out,  and  they  are  truly  astounding.* 

*  Franz   Oppenheimer,   Theorie  der  Reinen  iind   PoUtischen 
(Ekonomie.     Berlin,  1912. — Translator. 


THEOEIES  OF  THE  STATE       11 

We  can  determine  with  approximate  ac- 
curacy the  amount  of  land  of  average  fertility 
in  the  temperate  zone,  and  also  what  amount 
is  sufficient  to  enable  a  family  of  peasants  to 
exist  comfortably,  or  how  much  such  a  family 
can  work  with  its  own  forces,  without  en- 
gaging outside  help  or  permanent  farm  serv- 
ants. At  the  time  of  the  migration  of  the  bar- 
barians (350  to  750  A.  D.),  the  lot  of  each 
able-bodied  man  was  about  thirty  morgen 
(equal  to  twenty  acres)  on  average  lands,  on 
very  good  ground  only  ten  to  fifteen  morgen 
(equal  to  seven  or  ten  acres),  four  morgen  be- 
ing equal  to  one  hectare.  Of  this  land,  at 
least  a  third,  and  sometimes  a  half,  was  left  un- 
cultivated each  year.  The  remainder  of  the 
fifteen  to  twenty  morgen  sufficed  to  feed  and 
fatten  into  giants  the  immense  families  of  these 
child-producing  Germans,  and  this  in  spite  of 
the  primitive  technique,  whereby  at  least  half 
the  productive  capacity  of  a  day  was  lost. 
Let  us  assume  that,  in  these  modern  times, 
thirty  morgen  (equal  to  twenty  acres)  for  the 
average  peasant  suffices  to  support  a  family. 


12  THE  STATE 

We  have  then  assumed  a  block  of  land  suffi- 
ciently large  to  meet  any  objection.  Modern 
Germany,  populated  as  it  is,  contains  an  agri- 
cultural area  of  thirty-four  million  hectares 
(equal  to  eighty- four  million,  fifteen  thousand, 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres) .  The  agricul- 
tural population,  including  farm  laborers  and 
their  families,  amounts  to  seventeen  million; 
so  that,  assuming  five  persons  to  a  family  and 
an  equal  division  of  the  farm  lands,  each 
family  would  have  ten  hectares  (equal  to 
twenty-five  acres).  In  other  words,  not  even 
in  the  Germany  of  our  own  day  would  the 
point  have  been  reached  where,  according  to 
the  theories  of  the  adherents  of  natural  law, 
differentiation  into  classes  would  begin. 

Apply  the  same  process  to  countries  less 
densely  settled,  such,  for  example,  as  the  Dan- 
ube States,  Turkey,  Hungary  and  Russia,  and 
still  more  astounding  results  will  appear.  As 
a  matter  oi  lact,  there  are  still  on  the  earth's 
surface,  seventy-three  billion,  two  hundred 
million  hectares  (equal  to  one  hundred  eighty 
billion,  eight  hundred  eighty  million  and  four 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE       13 

hundred  sixteen  thousand  acres)  ;  dividing  into 
the  first  amount  the  number  of  human  beings 
of  all  professions  whatever,  viz.,  one  billion, 
eight  hundred  million,  every  family  of  five 
persons  could  possess  about  thirty  morgen 
(equal  to  eighteen  and  a  half  acres),  and  still 
leave  about  two-thirds  of  the  planet  unoccu- 
jned. 

If,  therefore,  purely  economic  causes  are 
ever  to  bring  about  a  differentiation  into 
classes  by  the  growth  of  a  propertyless  labor-  \ 
ing  class,  the  time  has  not  yet  arrived;  and 
the  critical  point  at  which  ownership  of  land 
will  cause  a  natural  scarcity  is  thrust  into  the 
dim  future — if  indeed  it  ever  can  arrive. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  for  centuries 
past,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  w^e  have  had  a 
class-state,  with  possessing  classes  on  top  and 
a  propertyless  laboring  class  at  the  bottom, 
even  when  population  was  much  less  dense 
than  it  is  to-day.  Now  it  is  true  that  the  class- 
state  can  arise  only  where  all  fertile  acreage  j 
has  been  occupied  completely ;  and  since  I  have  / 
shown  that  even  at  the  present  time,  all  the/ 


14  THE  STATE 

ground  is  not  occupied  economically,  this  must 
mean  that  it  has  been  preempted  politically. 
Since  land  could  not  have  acquired  "natural 
scarcity,"  the  scarcity  must  have  been  "legal." 
This  means  that  the  land  has  been  preempted 
by  a  ruling  class  against  its  subject  class,  and 
settlement   prevented.     Therefore  the   State, 
as  a  class-state,  can  have  originated  in  no  other 
^way  than  through  conquest  and  subjugation. 
This  view,  the  so-called  "sociologic  idea  of 
the  state,"  as  the  following  will  show,  is  sup- 
ported in  ample  manner  by  well-known  his- 
torical  facts.     And  yet  most  modern  histo- 
rians have  rejected  it,  holding  that  both  groups, 
amalgamated  by  war  into  one  State,  before 
that  time  had,  each  for  itself  formed  a  "State." 
As  there  is  no  method  of  obtaining  historical 
proof  to  the  contrary,  since  the  beginnings  of 
human  history  are  unknown,  we  should  arrive 
at  a  verdict  of  "not  proven,"  were  it  not  that, 
deductively,   there   is   the   absolute   certainty 
that  the  State,  as  history  shows  It,  the  class- 
state,    could    not    have    come    about    except 
thi'ough  warlike  subjugation.     The  mass  of 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE      15 

evidence  shows  that  our  simple  calculation  ex- 
cludes any  other  result. 

THE   SOCIOLOGICAL   IDEA   OF  THE   STATE 

To  the  originally,  purely  sociological,  idea 
of  the  State,  I  have  added  the  economic  phase 
and  formulated  it  as  follows: 

What,  then,  is  the  State  as  a  sociological  ^ 
concept?     The  State,  completely  in  its  gene- 
sis, essentially  and  almost  completely  during 
the  first  stages  of  its  existence,  is  a  social  insti- 
tution, forced  by  a  victorious  group  of  men  on 
a  defeated  group,  with  the  sole  purpose  of  reg-      J^' 
ulating  the  dominion  of  the  victorious  group 
over  the  vanquished,  and  securing  itself  against 
revolt  from  within  and  attacks  from  abroad. 
Teleologically,    this    dominion   had   no   other 
purpose  than  the  economic  exploitation  of  the^y 
vanquished  by  the  victors. 

No  primitive  state  known  to  history  orig- 
inated in  any  other  manner.^  Wherever  a  re- 
liable tradition  re^Dorts  otherwise,  either  it 
concerns  the  amalgamation  of  two  fully  de- 
veloped primitive  states  into  one  body  of  more 


16  THE  STATE 

complete  organization;  or  else  it  is  an  adapta- 
tion to  men  of  the  fable  of  the  sheep  which 
made  a  bear  their  king  in  order  to  be  protected 
against  the  wolf.  But  even  in  this  latter  case, 
the  form  and  content  of  the  State  became  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  in  those  states  where  nothing 
intervened,  and  which  became  immediately 
"wolf  states." 

The  little  history  learned  in  our  school-days 
suffices  to  prove  this  generic  doctrine.  Every- 
where we  find  some  warlike  tribe  of  wild  men 
breaking  through  the  boundaries  of  some  less 
warlike  people,  settling  down  as  nobility  and 
founding  its  State.  In  Mesopotamia,  wave 
follows  wave,  state  follows  state — Babylon- 
ians, Amoritans,  Assyrians,  Arabs,  Medes, 
Persians,  Macedonians,  Parthians,  Mongols, 
Seldshuks,  Tartars,  Turks ;  on  the  Nile,  Hyk- 
sos,  Nubians,  Persians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
Arabs,  Turks ;  in  Greece,  the  Doric  States  are 
typical  examples;  in  Italy,  Romans,  Ostro- 
goths, Lombards,  Franks,  Germans;  in  Spain, 
Carthaginians,  Visigoths,  Arabs;  in  Gaul, 
Romans,  Franks,  Burgundians,  Normans;  in 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE      17 

Britain,  Saxons,  Normans.  In  India  wave 
upon  wave  of  wild  warlike  clans  has  flooded 
over  the  country  even  to  the  islands  of  the  In- 
dian Ocean.  So  also  is  it  with  China.  In  the 
European  colonies,  we  find  the  selfsame  type, 
wherever  a  settled  element  of  the  population 
has  been  found,  as  for  example,  in  South 
America  and  ]Mexico.  Where  that  element  is 
lacking,  where  only  roving  huntsmen  are 
found,  who  may  be  exterminated  but  not  sub- 
jugated, the  conquerors  resort  to  the  device  of 
importing  from  afar  masses  of  men  to  be  ex- 
ploited, to  be  subject  perpetually  to  forced 
labor,  and  thus  the  slave  trade  arises. 

An  apparent  exception  is  found  only  in 
those  European  colonies  in  which  it  is  forbid- 
den to  replace  the  lack  of  a  domiciled  indige- 
nous population  by  the  importation  of  slaves. 
One  of  these  colonies,  the  United  States  of 
America,  is  among  the  most  powerful  state- 
formations  in  all  history.  The  exception 
there  found  is  to  be  explained  by  this,  that  the 
mass  of  men  to  be  exploited  and  worked  with- 
out cessation  imports  itself,  by  emigration  in 


18  THE  STATE 

great  hordes  from  primitive  states  or  from 
those  in  higher  stages  of  development  in  which 
exploitation  has  become  unbearable,  while  lib- 
erty of  movement  has  been  attained*-  In  this 
case,  one  may  speak  of  an  infection  from  afar 
with  "statehood"  brought  in  by  the  infected  of 
foreign  lands.  Where,  however,  in  such  col- 
onies, immigration  is  very  limited,  either  be- 
cause of  excessive  distances  and  the  conse- 
quent high  charges  for  moving  from  home,  or 
because  of  regulations  limiting  the  immigra- 
tion, we  perceive  an  approximation  to  the  final 
end  of  the  development  of  the  State,  which  we 
nowadays  recognize  as  the  necessary  outcome 
and  finale,  but  for  which  we  have  not  yet  found 
a  scientific  terminology.  Here  again,  in  the 
dialectic  development,  a  change  in  the  quantity 
is  bound  up  with  a  change  of  the  quality. 
The  old  form  is  filled  with  new  contents.  We 
still  find  a  "State"  in  so  far  as  it  represents  the 
tense  regulation,  secured  by  external  force, 
whereby  is  secured  the  social  living  together  of 
large  bodies  of  men;  but  it  is  no  longer  the 
"State"  in  its  older  sense.     It  is  no  longer  the 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE      19 

instrument  of  political  domination  and  eco- 
nomic exploitation  of  one  social  group  by  an- 
other; it  is  no  longer  a  "State  of  Classes."  It 
rather  resembles  a  condition  which  appears  to 
have  come  about  through  a  "social  contract." 
This  stage  is  approached  by  the  Australian 
Colonies,  excepting  Queensland,  which  after 
the  feudal  manner  still  exploits  the  half  en- 
slaved Kanakas.  It  is  almost  attained  in  New 
Zealand. 

So  long  as  there  is  no  general  assent  as  to 
the  origin  and  essence  of  states  historically 
known  or  as  to  the  sociological  meaning  of  the 
word  "State,"  it  would  be  futile  to  attempt  to 
force  into  use  a  new  name  for  these  most  ad- 
vanced commonwealths.  They  will  continue 
to  be  called  "states"  in  spite  of  all  protests, 
especially  because  of  the  pleasure  of  using 
confusing  concepts.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
study,  however,  we  propose  to  employ  a  new 
concept,  a  .different  verbal  lever,  and  shall 
speak  of  the  result  of  the  new  process  as  ,a 
"Freemen's  Citizenship." 

This  summary  survey  of  the  states  of  the 


20  THE  STATE 

past  and  present  should,  if  space  permitted,  be 
supplemented  by  an  examination  of  the  facts 
offered  by  the  study  of  races,  and  of  those 
states  which  are  not  treated  in  our  falsely 
called  "Universal  History."  On  this  point,  the 
assurance  may  be  accepted  that  here  again  our 
general  rule  is  valid  without  exception. 
Everjrwhere,  whether  in  the  Malay  Archipel- 
ago, or  in  the  "great  sociological  laboratory  of 
Africa,"  at  all  places  on  this  planet  where  the 
development  of  tribes  has  at  all  attained  a 
higher  form,  the  State  grew  from  the  subjuga- 
tion of  one  group  of  men  by  another.  Its  basic 
justification,  its  raison  d'etre,  was  and  is  the 
economic  exploitation  of  those  subjugated. 

The  summary  review  thus  far  made  may 
serve  as  proof  of  the  basic  premise  of  this 
sketch.  The  pathfinder,  to  whom,  before  all 
others,  we  are  indebted  for  this  line  of  investi- 
gation is  Professor  Ludwig  Gumplowicz  of 
Graz,  jurist  and  sociologist,  who  crowned  a 
brave  life  by  a  brave  self -chosen  death.  We 
can,  then,  in  sharp  outlines,  follow  in  the  suf- 
ferings of  humanity  the  path  which  the  State 


THEORIES  OF  THE  STATE       21 

has  pursued  in  its  progress  through  the  ages. 
This  we  propose  now  to  trace  from  the  primi- 
tive state  founded  on  conquest  to  the  "free- 
men's citizenship." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE 

One  single  force  impels  all  life ;  one  force  de- 
veloped it,  from  the  single  cell,  the  particle  of 
albumen  floating  about  in  the  warm  ocean  of 
prehistoric  time,  up  to  the  vertebrates,  and  then 
to  man.  This  one  force,  according  to  Lippert, 
is  the  tendency  to  provide  for  life,  bifurcated 
into  * 'hunger  and  love."  With  man,  however, 
philosophy  also  enters  into  the  play  of  these 
forces,  in  order  hereafter,  together  with  "hun- 
ger and  love,  to  hold  together  the  structure  of 
the  world  of  men."  To  be  sure,  this  philos- 
ophy, this  "idea"  of  Schopenhauer's,  is  at  its 
source  nothing  else  than  a  creature  of  the  pro- 
vision for  life  called  by  him  "will."  It  is  an 
organ  of  orientation  in  the  world,  an  arm  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.     Yet  in  spite  of  this, 

we  shall  come  to  know  the  desire  for  caus- 

9^ 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       23 

ation  as  a  self-acting  force,  and  of  social 
facts  as  cooperators  in  the  sociological  pro- 
cess of  development.  In  the  beginning  of 
human  society,  and  as  it  gradually  develops, 
this  tendency  pushes  itself  forward  in  various 
bizarre  ideas  called  ''superstition."  These  are 
based  on  purely  logical  conclusions  from 
incomplete  observations  concerning  air  and 
water,  earth  and  fire,  animals  and  plants,  which 
seem  endowed  with  a  throng  of  spirits  both 
kindly  and  malevolent.  One  may  say  that  in 
the  most  recent  modern  times,  at  a  stage  at- 
tained only  by  very  few  races,  there  arises  also 
the  younger  daughter  of  the  desire  for  causa- 
tion, namely  science,  as  a  logical  result  of  com- 
plete observation  of  facts;  science,  now  re- 
quired to  exterminate  widely  branched-out 
superstition,  which,  with  innumerable  threads, 
has  rooted  itself  in  the  very  soul  of  mankind. 
But,  however  powerfully,  especially  in  the 
moment  of  "ecstasy,"  ^  superstition  may  have 
influenced  history,  however  powerfully,  even  in 
ordinary  times,  it  may  have  cooperated  in  the 
development  of  human  communal  life,  the  prin- 


24  THE  STATE 

cipal  force  of  development  is  still  to  be  found 
in  the  necessities  of  life,  which  force  man  to 
acquire  for  himself  and  for  his  family  nourish- 
ment, clothing  and  housing.  This  remains, 
therefore,  the  "economic"  impulse.  A  socio- 
logical— and  that  means  a  socio-psychological 
— investigation  of  the  development  of  history 
can,  therefore,  not  progress  otherwise  than  by 
following  out  the  methods  by  which  economic 
needs  have  been  satisfied  in  their  gradual  un- 
folding, and  by  taking  heed  of  the  influences  of 
the  causation  impulse  at  its  proper  place. 

(a)    POLITICAL   AND   ECONOMIC    MEANS 

There  are  two  fundamentally  opposed 
means  whereby  man,  requiring  sustenance,  is 
impelled  to  obtain  the  necessary  means  for  sat- 
isfying his  desires.  These  are  work  and  rob- 
bery, one's  own  labor  and  the  forcible  appro- 
priation of  the  labor  of  others.  Robbery! 
Forcible  appropriation!  These  words  convey 
to  us  ideas  of  crime  and  the  penitentiary,  since 
we  are  the  contemporaries  of  a  developed  civi* 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       25 

lization,  specifically  based  on  the  inviolability 
of  property.  And  this  tang  is  not  lost  when 
we  are  convinced  that  land  and  sea  robbery  is 
the  primitive  relation  of  life,  just  as  the  war- 
riors' trade — which  also  for  a  long  time  is  only 
organized  mass  robbery — constitutes  the  most 
respected  of  occupations.  Both  because  of 
this,  and  also  on  account  of  the  need  of  having, 
in  the  further  development  of  this  study,  terse, 
clear,  sharply  opposing  terms  for  these  very 
important  contrasts,  I  propose  in  the  following 
discussion  to  call  one's  own  labor  and  the 
equivalent  exchange  of  one's  own  labor  for  the 
labor  of  others,  the  "economic  means"  for  the 
satisfaction  of  needs,  while  the  unrequited  ap- 
propriation of  the  labor  of  others  will  be  called 
the  "political  means." 

The  idea  is  not  altogether  new ;  philosophers 
of  history  have  at  all  times  found  this  contra- 
diction and  have  tried  to  formulate  it.  But  no 
one  of  these  formulae  has  carried  the  premise  to 
its  complete  logical  end.  At  no  place  is  it 
clearly  shown  that  the  contradiction  consists 


26  THE  STATE 

only  in  the  means  by  which  the  identical  pur- 
pose, the  acquisition  of  economic  objects  of  con- 
sumption, is  to  be  obtained.  Yet  this  is  the 
critical  point  of  the  reasoning.  In  the  case  of 
a  thinker  of  the  rank  of  Karl  Marx,  one  may 
observe  what  confusion  is  brought  about  when 
economic  purpose  and  economic  means  are  not 
strictly  differentiated.  All  those  errors,  which 
in  the  end  led  Marx's  splendid  theory  so  far 
away  from  truth,  were  grounded  in  the  lack  of 
clear  differentiation  between  the  means  of  eco- 
nomic satisfaction  of  needs  and  its  end.  This 
led  him  to  designate  slavery  as  an  "economic 
category,"  and  force  as  an  "economic  force" — 
half  truths  which  are  far  more  dangerous  than 
total  untruths,  since  their  discovery  is  more  dif- 
ficult, and  false  conclusions  from  them  are  in- 
evitable. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  own  sharp  differenti- 
ation between  the  two  means  toward  the  same 
end,  will  help  us  to  avoid  any  such  confusion. 
This  will  be  our  key  to  an  understanding  of  the 
development,  the  essence,  and  the  purpose  of 
the  State ;  and  since  all  universal  history  here- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       27 

tofore  has  been  only  the  history  of  states,  to  an 
understanding  of  universal  history  as  well. 
All  world  history,  from  primitive  times  up  to 
our  own  civilization,  presents  a  single  phase, 
a  contest  namel}^  between  the  economic  and 
the  political  means;  and  it  can  present  only  this 
phase  until  we  have  achieved  free  citizenship. 

(b)     PEOPLES    WITHOUT    A    STATE:    HUNTSMEN 
AND   GRUBBERS 

The  state  is  an  organization  of  the  politi- 
cal means.  No  state,  therefore,  can  come  into 
being  until  the  economic  means  has  created  a 
definite  number  of  objects  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  needs,  which  objects  may  be  taken 
away  or  appropriated  by  warlike  robbery. 
For  that  reason,  primitive  huntsmen  are  with- 
out a  state ;  and  even  the  more  highly  developed 
huntsmen  become  parts  of  a  state  structure 
only  when  they  find  in  their  neighborhood  an 
evolved  economic  organization  which  they  can 
subjugate.  But  primitive  huntsmen  live  in 
practical  anarchy. 


28  THE  STATE 

Grosse  says  concerning  primitive  huntsmen 
in  general: 

"  There  are  no  essential  differences  of  for- 
tune among  them,  and  thus  a  principal  source 
for  the  origin  of  differences  in  station  is  lack- 
ing. Generally,  all  grown  men  within  the 
tribe  enjoy  equal  rights.  The  older  men, 
thanks  to  their  greater  experience,  have  a  cer- 
tain authority;  but  no  one  feels  himself  bound 
to  render  them  obedience.  Where  in  some 
cases  chiefs  are  recognized — as  with  the  Boto- 
kude,  the  Central  Calif  ornians,  the  Wedda  and 
the  Mincopie — their  power  is  extremely 
limited.  The  chieftain  has  no  means  of  en- 
forcing his  wishes  against  the  will  of  the  rest. 
Most  tribes  of  hunters,  however,  have  no  chief- 
tain. The  entire  society  of  the  males  still 
forms  a  homogeneous  undifferentiated  mass, 
in  which  only  those  individuals  achieve  prom- 
inence who  are  believed  to  possess  magical 
powers."  ^ 

Here,  then,  there  scarcely  exists  a  spark 
of  "statehood,"  even  in  the  sense  of  ordinary 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       29 

theories   of  the  stater  still  less  in  the  sense 
of  the  correct  "sociologic  idea  of  the  state." 

The  social  structure  of  primitive  peasants 
has  hardly  more  resemblance  to  a  state  than 
has  the  horde  of  huntsmen.  Where  the  peas- 
ant, working  the  ground  with  a  grub,  is  living 
in  liberty,  there  is  as  yet  no  "state."  The 
plow  is  always  the  mark  of  a  higher  economic 
condition  which  occurs  only  in  a  state ;  that  is  to 
say,  in  a  system  of  plantation  work  carried  on 
by  subjugated  servants.^  The  grubbers  live 
isolated  from  one  another,  scattered  over  the 
country  in  separated  curtilages,  perhaps  in  vil- 
lages, split  up  because  of  quarrels  about  dis- 
trict or  farm  boundaries.  In  the  best  cases, 
they  live  in  feebly  organized  associations,  bound 
together  by  oath,  attached  only  loosely  by  the 
tie  which  the  consciousness  of  the  same  descent 
and  speech  and  the  same  belief  imposes  upon 
them.  They  unite  perhaps  once  a  year  in  the 
common  celebration  of  renowned  ancestors  or 
of  the  tribal  god.  There  is  no  ruling  authority 
over  the  whole  mass ;  the  various  chieftains  of 
a  village,  or  possibly  of  a  district,  may  have 


30  THE  STATE 

more  or  less  influence  in  their  circumscribed 
spheres,  this  depending  usually  upon  their  per- 
sonal qualities,  and  especially  upon  the  magical 
powers  attributed  to  them.  Cunow  describes 
the  Peruvian  peasants  before  the  incursion  of 
the  Incas  as  follows :  "An  unregulated  living 
side  by  side  of  many  independent,  mutually 
warring  tribes,  who  again  were  split  up  into 
more  or  less  autonomous  territorial  unions,  held 
together  by  ties  of  kinship."  ^  One  may  say 
that  all  the  primitive  peasants  of  the  old  and 
new  world  were  of  this  type. 

In  such  a  state  of  society,  it  is  hardly  con- 
ceivable that  a  warlike  organization  could 
come  about  for  purposes  of  attack.  It  is 
sufficiently  difficult  to  mobilize  the  clan,  or 
still  more  the  tribe,  for  common  defense.  The 
peasant  is  ahvays  lacking  in  mobility.  He  is 
as  attached  to  the  ground  as  the  plants  he  culti- 
vates. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  working  of 
his  field  makes  him  "bound  to  the  soil"  {glehce 
adscriptus) ,  even  though,  in  the  absence  of  law, 
he  has  freedom  of  movement.  What  purpose, 
moreover,  would  a  looting  expedition  effect  in 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       31 

a  country,  which  throughout  its  extent  is  oc- 
cupied only  by  grubbing  peasants?  The  peas- 
ant can  carry  off  from  the  peasant  nothing 
which  he  does  not  already  own.  In  a  condition 
of  society  marked  by  superfluity  of  agricul- 
tural land,  each  individual  contributes  only  a 
little  work  to  its  extensive  cultivation.  Each 
occupies  as  much  territory  as  he  needs.  INIore 
would  be  superfluous.  Its  acquisition  would 
be  lost  labor,  even  were  its  owner  able  to  con- 
serve for  any  length  of  time  the  grain  products 
thus  secured.  Under  primitive  conditions, 
however,  this  spoils  rapidly  by  reason  of  change 
of  atmosphere,  ants,  or  other  agencies.  Ac- 
cording to  Ratzel,  the  Central  African  peas- 
ant must  convert  the  superfluous  portion  of  his 
crops  into  beer  as  quickly  as  possible  in  order 
not  to  lose  it  entirely! 

For  all  these  reasons,  primitive  peasants  are 
totally  lacking  in  that  warlike  desire  to  take  the 
ofl*ensive  which  is  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
hunters  and  herdsmen :  war  can  not  better  their 
condition.  And  this  peaceable  attitude  is 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  occupation  of 


32  THE  STATE 

the  peasant  does  not  make  him  an  efficient  war- 
rior. It  is  true  his  muscles  are  strong  and  he 
has  powers  of  endurance,  but  he  is  sluggish 
of  movement  and  slow  to  come  to  a  determina- 
tion, while  huntsmen  and  nomads  by  their 
methods  of  living  develop  speed  of  motion  and 
swiftness  of  action.  For  this  reason,  the  prim- 
itive peasant  is  usually  of  a  more  gentle  dis- 
position than  they.* 

To  sum  up:  within  the  economic  and  social 
conditions  of  the  peasant  districts,  one  finds 
no  differentiation  working  for  the  higher 
forms  of  integration.  There  exists  neither  the 
impulse  nor  the  possibility  for  the  warlike  sub- 
jection of  neighbors.     No  "State"  can  there- 

'■  This  psychological  contradiction,  though  often  expressly 
stated,  is  not  the  absolute  rule,  Grosse,  Forms  of  the  Family^ 
says  (page  137):  "Some  historians  of  civilization  place  the 
peasant  in  opposition  to  the  warlike  nomads,  claiming  that 
the  peasants  are  peace-loving  peoples.  In  fact  one  can  not 
state  that  their  economic  life  leads  them  to  wars,  or  educates 
them  for  it,  as  can  be  said  of  stock  raisers.  Nevertheless,  one 
finds  within  the  scope  of  this  form  of  cultivation  a  mass  of 
the  most  warlike  and  cruel  peoples  to  be  found  anywhere. 
The  wild  cannibals  of  the  Bismarck  archipelago,  the  blood- 
lusting  Vitians,  the  butchers  of  men  of  Dahome  and  Ashanti 
— they  all  cultivate  the  'peaceable'  acres;  and  if  other  peas- 
ants are  not  quite  as  bad,  it  seems  that  the  kindly  disposition 
of  the  vast  mass  appears  to  be,  at  least,  questionable," 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       33 

fore  arise;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  none  ever 
has  arisen  from  such  social  conditions.  Had 
there  been  no  impulse  from  without,  from 
groups  of  men  nourished  in  a  different  man- 
ner, the  primitive  grubber  would  never  have 
discovered  the  State. 

(c)    PEOPLES   PRECEDING   THE   STATE: 
HERDSMEN   AND   VIKINGS 

Herdsmen,  on  the  contrary,  even  though 
isolated,  have  developed  a  whole  series  of  the 
elements  of  statehood;  and  in  the  tribes  which 
have  progressed  further,  they  have  developed 
this  in  its  totality,  with  the  single  exception 
of  the  last  point  of  identification  which  com- 
pletes the  state  in  its  modern  sense,  that  is  to 
say,  with  exception  only  of  the  definitive  occu- 
pation of  a  circumscribed  territory. 

One  of  these  elements  is  an  economic  one. 
Even  without  the  intervention  of  extra-eco- 
nomic force,  there  may  still  develop  among 
herdsmen  a  sufficiently  marked  differentiation 
of  property  and  income.  Assuming  that,  at 
the  start,  there  was  complete  equality  in  the 


84  THE  STATE 

number  of  cattle,  yet  within  a  short  time,  the 
one  man  may  be  richer  and  the  other  poorer. 
An  especially  clever  breeder  will  see  his  herd 
increase  rapidly,  while  an  especially  careful 
watchman  and  bold  hunter  will  preserve  his 
from  decimation  by  beasts  of  prey.  The  ele- 
ment of  luck  also  affects  the  result.  One  of 
these  herders  finds  an  especially  good  grazing 
ground  and  healthful  watering  places;  the 
other  one  loses  his  entire  stock  through 
pestilence,  or  through  a  snowfall  or  a  sand- 
storm. 

Distinctions  in  fortune  quickly  bring  about 
class  distinctions.  The  herdsman  who  has  lost 
all  must  hire  himself  to  the  rich  man ;  and  sink- 
ing thus  under  the  other,  become  dependent  on 
him.  Wherever  herdsmen  live,  from  all  three 
parts  of  the  ancient  world,  we  find  the  same 
story.  Meitzen  reports  of  the  Lapps,  nomadic 
in  Norway :  *' Three  hundred  reindeer  sufficed 
for  one  family;  who  owned  only  a  hundred 
must  enter  the  service  of  the  richer,  whose 
herds  ran  up  to  a  thousand  head."  ^  The  same 
writer,  speaking  of  the  Central  Asiatic  No- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       35 

mads,  says:  "A  family  required  three  hun- 
dred head  of  cattle  for  comfort;  one  hundred 
head  is  poverty,  followed  by  a  life  of  debt. 
The  servant  must  cultivate  the  lands  of  the 
lord."  '^  Ratzel  reports  concerning  the  Hot- 
tentots of  Africa  a  form  of  "commendatio" : 
"The  poor  man  endeavors  to  hire  himself  to  the 
rich  man,  his  only  object  being  to  obtain  cat- 
tle." ^  Laveleye,  who  reports  the  same  cir- 
cumstances from  Ireland,  traces  the  origin  and 
the  name  of  the  feudal  system  {systeme 
feodal)  to  the  loannig  of  cattle  by  the  rich  to 
the  poor  members  of  the  tribe ;  accordingly,  a 
*'fee-od"  (owning  of  cattle)  was  the  first  feud 
whereby  so  long  as  the  debt  existed  the  mag- 
nate bound  the  small  ow^ner  to  himself  as  "his 
man." 

We  can  only  hint  at  the  methods  whereby, 
even  in  peaceable  associations  of  herdsmen,  this 
economic  and  consequent  social  differentiation 
may  have  been  furthered  by  the  connection  of 
the  patriarchate  with  the  offices  of  supreme  and 
sacrificial  priesthood  if  the  wise  old  men  used 
cleverly  the  superstition  of  their  clan  associ- 


36  THE  STATE 

ates.  But  this  differentiation,  so  long  as  it  is 
unaffected  by  the  political  means,  operates 
within  very  modest  bounds.  Cleverness  and 
efficiency  are  not  hereditary  with  any  degree 
of  certainty.  The  largest  herd  will  be  split 
up  if  many  heirs  grow  up  in  one  tent,  and  for- 
tune is  tricky.  In  our  own  day,  the  richest 
man  among  the  Lapps  of  Sweden,  in  the  short- 
est possible  time,  has  been  reduced  to  such  com- 
plete poverty  that  the  government  has  had  to 
support  him.  All  these  causes  bring  it  about 
that  the  original  condition  of  economic  and 
social  equality  is  always  approximately  re- 
stored. "The  more  peaceable,  aboriginal,  and 
genuine  the  nomad  is,  the  smaller  are  the  tan- 
gible differences  of  possession.  It  is  touching 
to  note  the  pleasure  with  which  an  old  prince 
of  the  Tsaidam  Mongols  accepts  his  tribute  or 
gift,  consisting  of  a  handful  of  tobacco,  a  piece 
of  sugar,  and  twenty-five  kopeks."  ^ 

This  equality  is  destroyed  permanently  and 
in  greater  degree  by  the  political  means. 
"Where  war  is  carried  on  and  booty  acquired, 
greater  differences  arise,  which  find  their  ex- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       37 

pression  in  the  ovvnership  of  slaves,  women, 
arms  and  spirited  mounts."  ^^ 

The  ownership  of  slaves!  The  nomad  is  the 
inventor  of  slavery,  and  thereby  has  created  the 
seedling  of  the  state,  the  first  economic  ex- 
ploitation of  man  by  man. 

The  huntsman  carries  on  wars  and  takes 
captives.  But  he  does  not  make  them  slaves; 
either  he  kills  them,  or  else  he  adopts  them  into 
the  tribe.  Slaves  would  be  of  no  use  to  him. 
The  booty  of  the  chase  can  be  stowed  away 
even  less  than  grain  can  be  "capitalized." 
The  idea  of  using  a  human  being  as  a  labor 
motor  could  only^come  about  on  an  economic 
plane  on  which  a  body  of  wealth  has  developed, 
call  it  capital,  which  can  be  increased  only  with 
the  assistance  of  dependent  labor  forces. 

This  stage  is  first  reached  by  the  herdsmen. 
The  forces  of  one  family,  lacking  outside  as- 
sistance, suffice  to  hold  together  a  herd  of  very 
limited  size,  and  to  protect  it  from  attacks  of 
beasts  of  prey  or  human  enemies.  Until  the 
political  means  is  brought  into  play,  auxiliary 
forces  are  found  very  sparingly;  such  as  the 

47  91  i] 


38  THE  STATE 

poorer  members  of  the  clan  already  mentioned, 
together  with  runaways  from  foreign  tribes, 
who  are  found  all  over  the  world  as  protected 
dependents  in  the  suite  of  the  greater  owners 
of  herds/ ^  In  some  cases,  an  entire  poor  clan 
of  herdsmen  enters,  half  freely,  into  the  service 
of  some  rich  tribe.  "Entire  peojjles  take  posi- 
tions corresponding  to  their  relative  wealth. 
Thus  the  Tungusen,  who  are  very  poor,  try  to 
live  near  the  settlements  of  the  Tschuktsches, 
because  they  find  occupation  as  herdsmen  of 
the  reindeer  belonging  to  the  wealthy  Tschu- 
ktsches; they  are  paid  in  reindeer.  And  the 
subjection  of  the  Ural-Samojedes  by  the  Sir- 
jaenes  came  about  through  the  gradual  occu- 
pation of  their  pasturing  grounds."  ^^ 

Excepting,  however,  the  last  named  case, 
which  is  already  very  state-like,  the  few  exist- 
ing labor  forces,  without  capital,  are  not  suf- 
ficient to  permit  the  clan  to  keep  very  large 
herds.  Furthermore,  methods  of  herding 
themselves  compel  division.  For  a  pasture 
may  not,  as  they  say  in  the  Swiss  Alps,  be 
"overpushed,"  that  is  to  say,  have  too  many 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       39 

cattle  on  it.  The  danger  of  losing  the  entire 
stock  is  reduced  by  the  measure  in  which  it  is 
distributed  over  various  pastures.  For  cattle 
plagues,  storms,  etc.,  can  affect  only  a  part; 
while  even  the  enemy  from  abroad  can  not  drive 
off  all  at  once.  For  that  reason,  the  Hereros, 
for  example,  "find  every  well-to-do  owner 
forced  to  keep,  besides  the  main  herd,  several 
other  subsidiary  herds.  Younger  brothers  or 
other  near  relatives,  or  in  want  of  these,  tried 
old  sei'\^ants,  watch  them."  *^ 

For  that  reason,  the  developed  nomad  spares 
his  captured  enemy;  he  can  use  him  as  a  slave 
on  his  pasture.  We  may  note  this  transition 
from  killing  to  enslaving  in  a  customary  rite 
of  the  Scythians:  they  offered  up  at  their 
places  of  sacrifice  one  out  of  every  hundred 
captured  enemies.  Lippert,  who  reports  this, 
sees  in  it  "the  beginning  of  a  limitation,  and 
the  reason  thereof  is  evidently  to  be  found  in 
the  value  which  a  captured  enemy  has  acquired 
by  becoming  the  servant  of  a  tribal  herds- 
man." '' 

With  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  tri- 


40  THE  STATE 

bal  economy  of  the  herdsmen,  the  state,  in  its 
essential  elements,  is  completed,  except  that  it 
has  not  as  yet  acquired  a  definitely  circum- 
scribed territorial  limit.  The  state  has  thus 
the  form  of  dominion,  and  its  economic  basis 
is  the  exploitation  of  human  labor.  Hence- 
forth, economic  differentiation  and  the  forma- 
tion of  social  classes  progress  rapidly.  The 
herds  of  the  great,  wisely  divided  and  better 
guarded  by  numerous  armed  servants  than 
those  of  the  simple  freemen,  as  a  laile,  main- 
tain themselves  at  their  original  number: 
they  also  increase  faster  than  those  of  the  free- 
men, since  they  are  augmented  by  the  greater 
share  in  the  booty  which  the  rich  receive,  cor- 
responding to  the  number  of  warriors  (slaves) 
which  these  place  in  the  field. 

Likewise,  the  office  of  supreme  priest  cre- 
ates an  ever-widening  cleft  which  divides  the 
numbers  of  the  clan,  all  formerly  equals ;  until 
finally  a  genuine  nobility,  the  rich  descendants 
of  the  rich  patriarchs,  is  placed  in  juxtaposi- 
tion to  the  ordinary  freemen.  "The  redskins 
have  also  in  their  progressive  organization  de- 


GEXESIS  OF  THE  STATE       41 

veloped  no  nobility  and  no  slaverj^*  and  in 
this  their  organization  distinguishes  itself  most 
essentially  from  those  of  the  old  world.  Both 
arise  from  the  development  of  the  patriarchate 
of  stock-raising  people."  ^^ 

Thus  we  find,  with  all  developed  tribes  of 
herdsmen,  a  social  separation  into  three  dis- 
tinct classes:  nobility  ("head  of  the  house  of 
his  fathers"  in  the  biblical  phrase),  common 
freemen  and  slaves.  According  to  Mommsen, 
"all  Indo-Germanic  people  have  slavery  as  a 
jural  institution."  ^^  This  applies  to  the 
Arians  and  the  Semites  of  Asia  and  Africa  as 
well  as  to  the  Hamites.  Among  all  the  Fulbe 
of  the  Sahara,  "society  is  divided  into  princes, 
chieftains,  commons  and  slaves."  ^"^  And  we 
find  the  same  facts  everywhere,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  wherever  slavery  is  legally  established, 
as  among  the  Hova  ^^  and  their  Polynesian 
kinsmen,  the  "Sea  Nomads."  Human  psy- 
chology  under   similar   circumstances   brings 

*  This  statement  of  Lippert  is  not  quite  correct.  The  higher 
developed  domiciled  huntsmen  and  fishermen  of  Northwest 
America  have  both  nobles  and  slaves. 


42  THE  STATE 

about  like  conditions,  independent  of  color  or 
race. 

Thus  the  herdsman  gradually  becomes  ac- 
customed to  earning  his  livelihood  through  war- 
fare, and  to  the  exploitation  of  men  as  servile 
labor  motors.  And  one  must  admit  that  his 
entire  mode  of  life  impels  him  to  make  more 
and  more  use  of  the  "political  means." 

He  is  physically  stronger  and  just  as  adroit 
and  determined  as  the  primitive  huntsman, 
whose  food  supply  is  too  irregular  to  permit 
him  to  attain  his  greatest  natural  physical  de- 
velopment. The  herdsman  can,  in  all  cases, 
grow  to  his  full  stature,  since  he  has  uninter- 
rupted nourishment  in  the  milk  of  his  herds 
and  an  unfailing  supply  of  meat.  This  is 
shown  in  the  Ai'ian  horse  nomad,  no  less  than 
in  the  herdsman  of  Asia  and  Africa,  e.  g.,  the 
Zulu.  Secondly,  tribes  of  herdsmen  increase 
faster  than  hordes  of  hunters.  This  is  so,  not 
only  because  the  adults  can  obtain  much  more 
nourishment  from  a  given  territory,  but  still 
more  because  possession  of  the  milk  of  animals 
shortens  the  period  of  nursing  for  the  mothers, 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       43 

and  consequently  permits  a  greater  number  of 
children  to  be  born  and  to  grow  to  maturity. 
As  a  consequence,  the  pastures  and  steppes  of 
the  old  world  became  inexhaustible  fountains, 
which  periodically  burst  their  confines  letting 
loose  inundations  of  humanity,  so  that  they 
came  to  be  called  the  "vagince  gentium/' 

JMoreover  we  find  a  much  larger  number  of 
armed  warriors  among  herdsmen  than  among 
hunters.  Each  one  of  these  herdsmen  is 
stronger  individually,  and  yet  all  of  them  to- 
gether are  at  least  as  mobile  as  is  a  horde  of 
huntsmen;  while  the  camel  and  horse  riders 
among  them  are  incomparably  more  mobile. 
This  greater  mass  of  the  best  individual  ele- 
ments is  held  together  by  an  organization  only 
possible  under  the  segis  of  a  slave-holding 
patriarchate  accustomed  to  rule,  an  organiza- 
tion prepared  and  developed  by  its  occupation, 
and  therefore  superior  to  that  of  the  young 
warriors  of  the  huntsmen  sworn  to  the  service 
of  one  chief. 

Hunters,  it  may  be  observed,  work  best  alone 
or  in  small  groups.     Herdsmen,  on  the  other 


44  THE  STATE 

hand,  move  to  the  best  advantage  in  a  great 
train,  in  which  each  individual  is  best  pro- 
tected; and  which  is  in  every  sense  an  armed 
expedition,  where  every  stopping  place  be- 
comes an  armed  camp.  Thus  there  is  de- 
veloped a  science  of  tactical  maneuvers,  strict 
subordination,  and  firm  discipline.  "One  does 
not  make  a  mistake,"  as  Ratzel  says,  ''if  one 
accounts  as  the  disciplinary  forces  in  the  life 
of  the  nomads  the  order  of  the  tents  which,  in 
the  same  form,  exists  since  most  ancient  times. 
Every  one  and  everything  here  has  a  definite, 
traditional  place ;  hence  the  speed  and  order  in 
setting  up  and  in  breaking  camp,  in  establish- 
ment and  in  rearrangement.  It  is  unheard 
of  that  any  one  without  orders,  or  without  the 
most  pressing  reason,  should  change  his  place. 
Thanks  to  this  strict  discipline,  the  tents  can 
be  packed  up  and  loaded  away  within  the  space 
of  an  hour."  ^^ 

The  same  tried  order,  handed  down  from 
untold  ages,  regulates  the  warlike  march  of 
the  tribe  of  herdsmen  while  on  the  hunt,  in  war 
and  in  peaceable  wandering.     Thus  they  be- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       45 

come  professional  fighters,  irresistible  until 
the  state  develops  higher  and  mightier  or- 
ganizations. Herdsman  and  warrior  become 
identical  concepts.  Ratzel's  statement  con- 
cerning the  Central  Asiatic  Xomads  applies 
to  them  all:  "The  nomad  is,  as  herdsman,  an 
economic,  as  warrior,  a  political  concept.  It 
is  easy  for  him  to  turn  from  any  activity  to 
that  of  the  warrior  and  robber.  Everything 
in  life  has  for  him  a  pacific  and  war-like,  an 
honest  and  robber-like,  side;  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, the  one  or  the  other  of  these  phases 
appears  uppermost.  Even  fishing  and  navi- 
gation, at  the  hands  of  the  East  Caspian 
Turkomans,  developed  into  piracy.  .  .  .  The 
activities  of  the  apparently  pacific  existence 
as  a  herdsman  determine  those  of  the  warrior; 
the  pastoral  crook  becomes  a  fighting  imple- 
ment. In  the  fall,  when  the  horses  return 
strengthened  from  the  pasture  and  the  second 
cropping  of  the  sheep  is  completed,  the  nomads' 
minds  turn  to  some  feud  or  robbing  expedition 
(Baranta,  literally,  to  make  cattle,  to  lift  cat- 
tle), adjourned  to  that  time.     This  is  an  ex- 


46  THE  STATE 

pression  of  the  right  of  self  help,  which  in  con- 
tentions over  points  of  law,  or  in  quarrels  af- 
fecting dignity,  or  in  blood  feuds,  seeks  both 
requital  and  surety  in  the  most  valuable  things 
that  the  enemy  possesses,  namely,  the  animals 
of  his  herd.  Young  men  who  have  not  been 
on  a  haranta  must  first  acquire  the  name  hatiVy 
hero,  and  thus  earn  the  claim  to  honor  and  re- 
spect. The  pleasure  of  ownership  joined  to 
the  desire  for  adventure  develops  the  triple 
descending  gradation  of  avenger,  hero  and 
robber."  ^o 

An  identical  development  takes  place  with 
the  sea  nomads,  the  "Vikings,"  as  with  the  land 
nomads.  This  is  quite  natural,  since  in  the 
most  important  cases  noted  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  sea  nomads  are  simply  land  nomads 
taking  to  the  sea. 

We  have  noted  above  one  of  the  innumer- 
able examples  which  indicate  that  the  herds- 
man does  not  long  hesitate  to  use  for  maraud- 
ing expeditions,  instead  of  the  horse  or  the 
"ship  of  the  desert,"  the  "horses  of  the  sea." 
This  case  is  exemplified    by  the  East  Caspian 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       47 

Turkomans.-^  Another  example  is  furnished 
by  the  Scythians:  "From  the  moment  when 
they  learn  from  their  neighbors  the  art  of  navi- 
gating the  seas,  these  wandering  herdsmen, 
whom  Homer  {Iliad,  XIII,  3)  calls  ^respected 
horsemen,  milk-eaters  and  poor,  the  most  just 
of  men,'  change  into  daring  navigators  like 
their  Baltic  and  Scandinavian  brethren. 
Strabo  {Cas.,  301)  complains:  'Since  they 
have  ventured  on  the  sea,  carrying  on  piracy 
and  murdering  foreigners,  they  have  become 
worse;  and  associating  with  many  peoples, 
they  adof)t  their  petty  trading  and  spendthrift 
habits.'  "  ^2 

If  the  Phoenicians  really  were  "Semites," 
they  furnish  an  additional  example  of  incom- 
parable importance  of  the  transformation  of 
land  into  "sea  Bedouins,"  i.  e.,  warlike  rob- 
bers; and  the  same  is  probably  true  for  the 
majority  of  the  numerous  peoples  who  looted 
the  rich  countries  around  the  Mediterranean, 
whether  from  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  Dal- 
matia,  or  from  the  North  African  shore. 
These  begin  from  the  earliest  times,  as  we  see 


48  THE  STATE 

from  the  Egyptian  monuments  (the  Greeks 
were  not  admitted  into  Egypt ),-^  and  con- 
tinue to  the  present  day:  e.  g.,  the  RifF  pirates. 
The  North  African  "Moors,"  an  amalgama- 
tion of  Arabs  and  of  Berbers,  both  originally 
land  nomads,  are  perhaps  the  most  celebrated 
example  of  this  change. 

There  are  cases  in  which  sea  nomads — that 
is  to  say,  sea  robbers — arise  immediately 
from  fishermen,  with  no  intermediate  herdsman 
stage.  We  have  already  examined  the  causes 
which  give  the  herdsmen  their  superiority  over 
the  peasantry:  the  relatively  numerous  popu- 
lation of  the  horde,  combined  with  an  activity 
which  develops  courage  and  quick  resolution 
in  the  individual,  and  educates  the  mass  as  a 
whole  to  tense  discipline.  All  this  applies  also 
to  fishermen  dwelling  on  the  sea.  Rich  fishing 
grounds  permit  a  considerable  density  of  popu- 
lation, as  is  shown  in  the  case  of  the  North- 
west Indians  (Thnkit,  etc.) ;  these  permit  also 
the  keeping  of  slaves,  since  the  slave  earns 
more  by  fishing  than  his  keep  amounts  to. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       49 

Thus  we  find,  here  alone  among  the  redskins, 
slavery  developed  as  an  institution;  and  we 
find,  therefore,  along  with  it,  permanent 
economic  differences  among  the  freemen,  whicH 
result  in  a  sort  of  plutocracy  similar  to  that 
noted  among  herdsmen.  Here,  as  there,  the 
habit  of  command  over  slaves  produces  the 
habit  of  rule  and  a  taste  for  the  * 'political 
means."  This  is  favored  by  the  tense  disci- 
pline developed  in  navigation.  "Not  the 
least  advantage  of  fishing  in  common  is  found 
in  the  discipline  of  the  crews.  They  must 
render  implicit  obedience  to  a  leader  chosen  in 
each  of  the  larger  fishing  boats,  since  every  suc- 
cess depends  upon  obedience.  The  command 
of  a  ship  afterward  facilitates  the  com- 
mand of  the  state.  We  are  accustomed  to 
reckon  the  Solomon  Islanders  as  complete  sav- 
ages, and  yet  their  life  is  subject  to  one  solitary 
element,  which  combines  their  forces,  namely, 
navigation."  ^^  If  the  Northwest  Indians  did 
not  become  such  celebrated  sea  robbers  as  their 
likes  in  the  old  world,  this  is  due  to  the  fact 


50  THE  STATE 

that  the  neighborhoods  within  their  reach  had 
developed  no  rich  civiHzation;  but  all  more  de- 
veloped fishermen  carry  on  piracy. 

For  this  reason,  the  Vikings  have  the  same 
capacity  to  choose  the  political  means  as  the 
basis  of  their  economic  existence  as  have  the 
cattle  raiders;  and  similarly  they  have  been 
fomiders  of  states  on  a  large  scale.  Here- 
after, we  shall  distinguish  the  states  founded 
by  them  as  "sea  states,"  while  the  states 
founded  by  herdsmen — and  in  the  new  world 
by  hunters — will  be  called  ''land  states."  Sea 
states  will  be  treated  extensively  when  we  dis- 
cuss the  consequences  of  the  developed  feudal 
state.  As  long,  however,  as  we  are  discussing 
the  development  of  the  state,  and  the  primitive 
feudal  state,  we  must  limit  ourselves  to  the 
consideration  of  the  land  state  and  leave  the 
sea  state  out  of  account.  This  treatment  is 
convenient,  since  in  all  essential  things  the  sea 
state  has  the  same  characteristics,  but  its  de- 
velopment can  not  be  followed  through  the 
various  typical  stages  as  can  the  development 
of  the  land  state. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       51 

(d)    THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE 

The  hordes  of  huntsmen  are  incomparably 
weaker,  both  in  numbers  and  in  the  strength  of 
the  single  fighters,  than  are  the  herdsmen  with 
whom  they  occasionally  brush.  Naturally 
they  can  not  withstand  the  impact.  They  flee 
to  the  highlands  and  mountains,  where  the 
herdsmen  have  no  inclination  to  follow  them, 
not  only  because  of  the  j)hysical  hardships  in- 
volved, but  also  because  their  cattle  do  not  find 
pasturage  there ;  or  else  they  enter  into  a  form 
of  cliental  relation,  as  happened  often  in 
Africa,  especially  in  very  ancient  times. 
^Vlien  the  Hyksos  invaded  Egypt,  such  de- 
pendent huntsmen  followed  them.  The  hunts- 
men usually  pay  for  protection  an  inconsider- 
able tribute  in  the  form  of  spoils  of  the  chase, 
and  are  used  for  reconnoitering  and  watching. 
But  the  huntsman,  being  a  "practical  anar- 
chist," often  invites  his  own  destruction  rather 
than  submit  to  regular  labor.  For  these  rea- 
sons, no  ''state"  ever  arose  from  such  contact. 

The  peasants  fight  as  undisciplined  levies. 


52  THE  STATE 

and  with  their  single  combatants  undisciplined ; 
so  that,  in  the  long  run,  even  though  they  are 
strong  in  numbers,  they  are  no  more  able  than 
are  the  hunters  to  ^vithstand  the  charge  of 
the  heavily  armed  herdsmen.  But  the  peas- 
antry do  not  flee.  The  peasant  is  attached  to 
his  ground,  and  has  been  used  to  regular  work. 
He  remains,  yields  to  subjection,  and  pays 
tribute  to  his  conqueror;  that  is  the  genesis  of 
the  land  states  in  the  old  world. 

In  the  new  world,  where  the  larger  herding 
animals,  cattle,  horses,  camels,  were  not  indig- 
enous, we  find  that  instead  of  the  herdsman 
the  hunter  is  the  conqueror  of  the  peasant, 
because  of  his  infinitely  superior  adroitness  in 
the  use  of  arms  and  in  military  discipline.  "In 
the  old  world  we  found  that  the  contrast  of 
herdsmen  and  peasants  developed  civilization; 
in  the  new  world  the  contrast  is  between  the 
sedentary  and  the  roving  tribes.  Thp  Tol- 
tecks,  devoted  to  agriculture,  fought  wild 
tribes  (with  a  highly  developed  military 
organization)  breaking  in  from  the  north,  as 
endlessly  as  did  Iran  with  Turan." 


25 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       53 

This  applies  not  only  to  Peru  and  Mexico, 
but  to  all  America,  a  strong  ground  for  the 
opinion  that  the  fundamental  basis  of  civiliza- 
tion is  the  same  all  over  the  world,  its  develop- 
ment being  consistent  and  regular  under  the 
most  varied  economic  and  geogra23hicai  condi- 
tions. Wherever  opportunity  offers,  and  man 
I)ossesses  the  power,  he  prefers  political  to 
economic  means  for  the  preservation  of  his 
life.  And  perhaps  this  is  true  not  alone  of 
man,  for,  according  to  JNIaeterlinck's  Life  of 
the  Bees,  a  swarm  w^hich  has  once  made  the 
experiment  of  obtaining  honey  from  a  foreign 
hive,  by  robbery  instead  of  by  tedious  building, 
is  thenceforth  spoiled  for  the  ''economic 
means."  From  working  bees,  robber  bees  have) 
developed. 

Leaving  out  of  account  the  state  formations  I 
of  the  new  world,  which  have  no  great  signifi- 
cance in  universal  history,  the  cause  of  the 
genesis  of  all  states  is  the  contrast  between 
peasants  and  herdsmen,  between  laborers  and 
robbers,  between  bottom  lands  and  prairies. 
Ratzel,    regarding   sociology    from    the    geo- 


54  THE  STATE 

graphical  view-point,  expresses  this  cleverly: 
"It  must  be  remembered  that  nomads  do  not 
always  destroy  the  opposing  civilization  of  the 
settled  folk.  This  applies  not  only  to  tribes, 
but  also  to  states,  even  to  those  of  some  might. 
The  war-like  character  of  the  nomads  is  a 
great  factor  in  the  creation  of  states.  It  finds 
expression  in  the  immense  nations  of  Asia  con- 
trolled by  nomad  dynasties  and  nomad  armies, 
such  as  Persia,  ruled  by  the  Turks;  China, 
conquered  and  governed  by  the  Mongols  and 
Manchus;  and  in  the  Mongol  and  Radjaputa 
states  of  India,  as  well  as  in  the  states  on 
the  border  of  the  Soudan,  where  the  amal- 
gamation of  the  formerly  hostile  elements  has 
not  yet  developed  so  far,  although  they  are 
joined  together  by  mutual  benefit.  In  no 
place  is  it  shown  so  clearly  as  here  on  the 
border  of  the  nomad  and  peasant  peoples,  that 
the  great  workings  of  the  impulse  making  for 
civilization  on  the  part  of  the  nomads  are  not 
the  result  of  civilizing  activity,  but  of  war-like 
exploits  at  first  detrimental  to  pacific  work. 
Their  importance  lies  in  the  capacity  of  the 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       55 

nomads  to  hold  together  the  sedentary  races 
who  otherwise  would  easily  fall  apart.  This, 
however,  does  not  exclude  their  learning  much 
from  their  subjects.  .  .  .  Yet  all  these  in- 
dustrious and  clever  folk  did  not  have  and 
could  not  have  the  will  and  the  powder  to  rule, 
the  military  spirit,  and  the  sense  for  the  order 
and  subordination  that  befits  a  state.  For  this 
reason,  the  desert-born  lords  of  the  Soudan  rule 
over  their  negro  folk  just  as  the  jNIanchus  rule 
-their  Chinese  subjects.  This  takes  place  pur- 
suant to  a  law,  valid  from  Timbuctoo  to 
Pekin,  whereby  advantageous  state  formations 
arise  in  rich  peasant  lands  adjoining  a  wide 
prairie;  w^here  a  high  material  culture  of 
.sedentary  peoples  is  violently  subjugated  to 
the  service  of  prairie  dwellers  having  energy, 
war-like  capacity,  and  desire  to  rule."  ^^ 

In  the  genesis  of  the  state,  from  the  subjec- 
tion of  a  peasant  folk  by  a  tribe  of  herdsmen  or 
by  sea  nomads,  six  stages  may  be  distinguished. 
In  the  following  discussion  it  should  not  be 
assumed  that  the  actual  historical  develop- 
ment must,  in  each  particular  case,  climb  the 


56  THE  STATE 

entire  scale  step  by  step.  Although,  even 
here,  the  argument  does  not  depend  upon  bare 
theoretical  construction,  since  every  particular 
stage  is  found  in  numerous  examples,  both  in 
the  world's  history  and  in  ethnology,  and  there 
are  states  which  have  apparently  progressed 
through  them  all.  But  there  are  many  more 
.which  have  skipped  one  or  more  of  these  stages. 
The  first  stage  comprises  robbery  and  kill- 
ing in  border  fights,  endless  combats  broken 
neither  by  peace  nor  by  armistice.  It  is 
marked  by  killing  of  men,  carrying  away  of 
children  and  women,  looting  of  herds,  and 
burning  of  dwellings.  Even  if  the  offenders 
are  defeated  at  first,  they  return  in  stronger 
and  stronger  bodies,  impelled  by  the  duty  of 
blood  feud.  Sometimes  the  peasant  group 
may  assemble,  may  organize  its  militia,  and 
perhaps  temporarily  defeat  the  nimble  enemy; 
but  mobihzation  is  too  slow  and  supplies  to  be 
brought  into  the  desert  too  costly  for  the  peas- 
ants. The  peasants'  militia  does  not,  as  does 
the  enemy,  carry  its  stock  of  food — its  herds — 
with  it  into  the  field.     In  Southwest  Africa  the 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       57 

Germans  recently  experienced  the  difficulties 
which  a  well-disciplined  and  superior  force, 
equipped  with  a  supply  train,  with  a  railway 
reaching  back  to  its  base  of  supply,  and  with 
the  millions  of  the  German  Empire  behind  it, 
may  have  with  a  handful  of  herdsmen  war- 
riors, who  were  able  to  give  the  Germans  a 
decided  setback.  In  the  case  of  primitive 
levies,  this  difficulty  is  increased  by  the  narrow 
spirit  of  the  peasant,  who  considers  only  his 
own  neighborhood,  and  by  the  fact  that  while 
the  war  is  going  on  the  lands  are  uncultivated. 
Therefore,  in  such  cases,  in  the  long  run,  the 
small  but  compact  and  easily  mobilized  body 
constantly  defeats  the  greater  disjointed  mass, 
as  the  panther  triumphs  over  the  buffalo. 

This  is  the  first  stage  in  the  formation  of 
states.  The  state  may  remain  stationary  at 
this  point  for  centuries,  for  a  thousand  years. 
The  following  is  a  thoroughly  characteristic 
example : 

"Every  range  of  a  Turkoman  tribe  formerly 
bordered  upon  a  wdde  belt  which  might  be 
designated   as   its    'looting   district.'     Every- 


58  THE  STATE 

thing  north  and  east  of  Chorassan,  though 
nominally  under  Persian  dominion,  has  for 
decades  belonged  more  to  the  Turkomans, 
Jomudes,  Goklenes,  and  other  tribes  of  the 
bordering  plains,  than  to  the  Persians.  The 
Tekinzes,  in  a  similar  manner,  looted  all  the 
stretches  from  Kiwa  to  Bokhara,  until  other 
Turkoman  tribes  were  successfully  rounded 
up  either  by  force  or  by  corruption  to  act  as 
a  buffer.  Numberless  further  instances  can 
be  found  in  the  history  of  the  chain  of  oases 
which  extends  between  Eastern  and  Western 
Asia  directly  through  the  steppes  of  its  cen- 
tral part,  where  since  ancient  times  the 
Chinese  have  exercised  a  predominant  influ- 
ence through  their  possession  of  all  important 
strategic  centers,  such  as  the  Oasis  of  Chami. 
The  nomads,  breaking  through  from  north 
and  south,  constantly  tried  to  land  on  these 
islands  of  fertile  ground,  which  to  them  must 
have  appeared  like  Islands  of  the  Blessed. 
And  every  horde,  whether  laden  down  with 
booty  or  fleeing  after  defeat,  was  protected  by 
the    plains.     Although   the   most   immediate 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       59 

threats  were  averted  by  the  contmued  weaken- 
ing of  the  INIongols,  and  the  actual  dominion  of 
Thibet,  yet  tlie  last  insurrection  of  the  Dun- 
ganes  showed  how  easily  the  waves  of  a  mol)ile 
tribe  break  over  these  islands  of  civilization. 
Only  after  the  destruction  of  the  nomads,  im- 
possible as  long  as  there  are  open  plains  in 
Central  Asia,  can  their  existence  be  definitely 
secured."  ^' 

The  entire  history  of  the  old  world  is  replete 
wdth  wxll-known  instances  of  mass  expeditions, 
which  must  be  assigned  to  the  first  stage  of 
state  development,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
intent,  not  upon  conquest,  but  directly  on  loot- 
ing. Western  Europe  suffered  through  these 
expeditions  at  the  hands  of  the  Celts,  Germans, 
Huns,  Avars,  Arabs,  Magyars,  Tartars,  Mon- 
golians and  Turks  by  land;  while  the  Vikings 
and  the  Saracens  harassed  it  on  the  waterways. 
These  hordes  inundated  entire  continents  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  their  accustomed  looting 
ground.  They  disappeared,  returned,  were 
absorbed,  and  left  behind  them  only  wasted 
lands.     In  many  cases,  however,  they  advanced 


60  THE  STATE 

in  some  part  of  the  inundated  district  directly 
to  the  sixth  and  last  stage  of  state  formation, 
in  cases  namely,  where  they  established  a  per- 
manent dominion  over  the  peasant  population. 
Ratzel  describes  these  mass  migrations  ex- 
cellently in  the  following: 

"The  expeditions  of  the  great  hordes  of 
nomads  contrast  with  this  movement,  drop  by 
drop  and  step  by  step,  since  they  overflow 
with  tremendous  power,  especially  Central 
Asia  and  all  neighboring  countries.  The 
nomads  of  this  district,  as  of  Arabia  and 
J^orthern  Africa,  unite  mobility  in  their  way  of 
life  with  an  organization  holding  together  their 
entire  mass  for  one  single  object.  It  seems  to 
be  a  characteristic  of  the  nomads  that  they 
easily  develop  despotic  power  and  far-reach- 
ing might  from  the  patriarchal  cohesion  of  the 
tribe.  Mass  governments  thereby  come  into 
being,  which  compare  with  other  movements 
among  men  in  the  same  way  that  swollen 
streams  compare  with  the  steady  but  diffused 
flow  of  a  tributary.  The  history  of  China, 
India,  and  Persia,  no  less  than  that  of  Europe, 


GEXESIS  OF  THE  STATE       61 

shows  their  historical  importance.  Just  as 
they  moved  about  on  their  ranges  with  their 
wives  and  children,  slaves  and  carts,  herds  and 
all  their  paraphernaHa,  so  they  inundated  the 
borderlands.  While  this  ballast  may  have  de- 
prived them  of  speed  it  increased  their  mo- 
mentum. The  frightened  inhabitants  were 
driven  before  them,  and  like  a  wave  they  rolled 
over  the  conquered  countries,  absorbing  their 
wealth.  Since  -they  carried  everything  with 
them,  their  new  abodes  were  equipped  with  all 
their  possessions,  and  thus  their  final  settle- 
ments were  of  an  ethnographic  importance. 
After  this  manner,  the  JNIagyars  flooded  Hun- 
gary, the  Manchus  invaded  China,  the  Turks, 
the  countries  from  Persia  to  the  Adriatic."  ^^ 

What  has  been  said  here  of  Hamites,  Sem- 
ites and  Mongolians,  may  be  said  also,  at  least 
in  part,  of  the  Arian  tribes  of  herdsmen.  It 
applies  also  to  the  true  negroes,  at  least  to 
those  who  live  entirely  from  their  herds: 
"The  mobile,  warlike  tribes  of  the  Kafirs  pos- 
sess a  power  of  expansion  which  needs  only 
an  enticing  object  in  order  to  attain  violent 


eg  THE  STATE 

effects  and  to  overturn  the  ethnologic  relations 
of  vast  districts.  Eastern  Africa  offers  such 
an  object.  Here  the  climate  did  not  forbid 
stock  raising,  as  in  the  countries  of  the  interior, 
and  did  not  paralyze  from  the  start,  the  power 
of  impact  of  the  nomads,  while  nevertheless 
numerous  peaceable  agricultural  peoples  found 
room  for  their  development.  Wandering 
tribes  of  Kafirs  poured  like  devastating 
streams  into  the  fruitful  lands  of  the  Zambesi, 
and  up  to  the  highlands  between  the  Tan- 
ganyika and  the  coast.  Here  they  met  the 
advance  guard  of  the  Watusi,  a  wave  of 
Hamite  eruption,  coming  from  the  north. 
The  former  inhabitants  of  these  districts  were 
either  exterminated,  or  as  serfs  cultivated  the 
lands  which  they  formerly  owned ;  or  they  still 
continued  to  fight ;  or  again,  they  remained  un- 
disturbed in  settlements  left  on  one  side  by  the 
stream  of  conquest."  ^^ 

All  this  has  taken  place  before  our  eyes. 
Some  of  it  is  still  going  on.  During  many 
thousands  of  years  it  has  "jarred  all  Eastern 
Africa    from    the   Zambesi    to    the    Mediter- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       63 

ranean."  The  incursion  of  the  Hyksos, 
whereby  for  over  five  hundred  years  Egypt 
was  subject  to  the  shepherd  tribes  of  the  east- 
ern and  northern  deserts — "kinsmen  of  the 
peoples  who  up  to  the  present  day  herd  their 
stock  between  the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea"  ^^ — ^ 
is  the  first  authenticated  foundation  of  a  state. 
These  states  were  followed  by  many  others 
both  in  the  country  of  the  Nile  itself,  and 
farther  southward,  as  far  as  the  Empire  of 
JNIuata  Jamvo  on  the  southern  rim  of  the  cen- 
tral Congo  district,  which  Portuguese  traders 
in  Angola  reported  as  early  as  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  down  to  the  Empire 
of  Uganda,  which  only  in  our  own  day  has 
finally  succumbed  to  the  superior  military  or- 
ganization of  Europe.  "Desert  land  and 
civilization  never  lie  peaceably  alongside  one 
another;  but  their  battles  are  all  alike  and  full 
of  repetitions."  "^ 

"Alike  and  full  of  repetitions"!  That  may 
be  said  of  universal  history  on  its  basic  lines. 
The  human  ego  in  its  fundamental  aspect  is 
much  the  same  all  the  world  over.     It  acts  uni- 


64  THE  STATE 

formly,  in  obedience  to  the  same  influences  of 
its  environment,  with  races  of  all  colors,  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth,  in  the  tropics  as  in  the  tem- 
perate zones.  One  must  step  back  far  enough 
and  choose  a  point  of  view  so  high  that  the 
variegated  aspect  of  the  details  does  not  hide 
the  great  movements  of  the  mass.  In  such  a 
case,  our  eye  misses  the  "mode"  of  fighting, 
wandering,  laboring  humanity,  while  its  "sub- 
stance," ever  similar,  ever  new,  ever  enduring 
through  change,  reveals  itself  under  uniform 
laws. 

Gradually,  from  this  first  stage,  there  de- 
velops the  second,  in  which  the  peasant, 
through  thousands  of  unsuccessful  attempts  at 
revolt,  has  accepted  his  fate  and  has  ceased 
every  resistance.  About  this  time,  it  begins 
to  dawn  on  the  consciousness  of  the  wild  herds- 
man that  a  murdered  peasant  can  no  longer 
plow,  and  that  a  fruit  tree  hacked  down  will 
no  longer  bear.  In  his  own  interest,  then, 
wherever  it  is  possible,  he  lets  the  peasant  live 
and  the  tree  stand.  The  expedition  of  the 
herdsmen  comes  just  as  before,  every  member 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       65 

bristKng  with  arms,  but  no  longer  intending 
nor  expecting  war  and  violent  appropriation. 
The  raiders  burn  and  kill  only  so  far  as  is 
necessary  to  enforce  a  wholesome  respect,  or 
to  break  an  isolated  resistance.  But  in  gen- 
eral, principally  in  accordance  with  a  develop- 
ing customary  right — the  first  germ  of  the 
development  of  all  public  law — the  herdsman 
now  appropriates  only  the  surplus  of  the  peas- 
ant. That  is  to  say,  he  leaves  the  peasant  his 
house,  his  gear  and  his  provisions  up  to  the 
next  crop.*  The  herdsman  in  the  first  stage 
is  like  the  bear,  who  for  the  purpose  of  robbing 
the  beehive,  destroys  it.  In  the  second  stage 
he  is  like  the  bee-keeper,  who  leaves  the  bees 
enough  honey  to  carry  them  through  the 
winter. 

Great  is  the  progress  between  the  first  stage 
and  the  second.     Long  is  the  forward  step, 

*  Ratzel,  1.  c,  II,  page  393,  in  speaking  of  the  Arabs  says: 
*'The  diflSculty  of  nourishing  slaves  makes  it  impossible  to 
keep  them.  Vast  populations  are  kept  in  subjection  and  de- 
prived of  everj'thing  beyond  the  necessaries  for  maintaining 
life.  They  turn  entire  oases  into  demesne  lands,  \isited  at  the 
harvest  time  in  order  to  rob  the  inhabitants;  a  domination 
characteristic  of  the  desert." 


66  THE  STATE 

both  economically  and  politically.  In  the  be- 
ginning, as  we  have  seen,  the  acquisition  by 
the  tribe  of  herdsmen  was  purely  an  occupy- 
ing one.  Regardless  of  consequences,  they  de- 
stroyed the  source  of  future  wealth  for  the  en- 
joyment of  the  moment.  Henceforth  the  ac- 
quisition becomes  economical,  because  all 
economy  is  based  on  wise  housekeeping,  or  in 
other  words,  on  restraining  the  enjoyment  of 
the  moment  in  view  of  the  needs  of  the  future. 
The  herdsman  has  learned  to  "capitalize."  It 
is  a  vast  step  forward  in  politics  when  an  ut- 
terly strange  human  being,  prey  heretofore 
like  the  ^vild  animals,  obtains  a  value  and  is 
recognized  as  a  source  of  wealth.  Although 
this  is  the  beginning  of  all  slavery,  subjuga- 
tion, and  exploitation,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
the  genesis  of  a  higher  form  of  society,  that 
reaches  out  beyond  the  family  based  upon 
blood  relationship.  We  saw  how,  between  the 
robbers  and  the  robbed,  the  first  threads  of  a 
jural  relation  were  spun  across  the  cleft  which 
separated  those  who  had  heretofore  been  only 
*'mortal  enemies."     The  peasant  thus  obtains 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE        67 

a  semblance  of  right  to  the  bare  necessaries  of 
life ;  so  that  it  comes  to  be  regarded  as  wrong 
to  kill  an  unresisting  man  or  to  strip  him  of 
everything. 

And  better  than  this,  gradually  more  deli- 
cate and  softer  threads  are  woven  into  a  net 
very  thin  as  yet,  but  which,  nevertheless,  brings 
about  more  human  relations  than  the  cus- 
tomary arrangement  of  the  division  of  spoils. 
Since  the  herdsmen  no  longer  meet  the  peas- 
ants in  combat  only,  they  are  likely  now  to 
grant  a  respectful  request,  or  to  remedy  a  well 
grounded  grievance.  "The  categorical  im- 
perative" of  equity,  "Do  to  others  as  you 
would  have  them  do  unto  you,"  had  heretofore 
ruled  the  herdsmen  only  in  their  dealings  with 
their  own  tribesmen  and  kind.  Now  for  the 
first  time  it  begins  to  speak,  shyly  whispering 
in  behalf  of  those  who  are  alien  to  blood  re- 
lationship. In  this,  we  find  the  germ  of  that 
magnificent  process  of  external  amalgamation 
which,  out  of  small  hordes,  has  formed  nations 
and  miions  of  nations ;  and  which,  in  the  future 
is  to  give  life  to  the  concept  of  ''humanity." 


68  THE  STATE 

We  find  also  the  germ  of  the  internal  unifica- 
tion of  tribes  once  separated,  from  which,  in 
place  of  the  hatred  of  "barbarians,"  will  come 
the  all  comprising  love  of  humanity,  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Buddhism. 

The  moment  when  first  the  conqueror 
spared  his  victim  in  order  permanently  to  ex- 
ploit him  in  productive  work,  was  of  incom- 
parable histoncal  importance.  It  gave  birth 
to  nation  and  state,  to  right  and  the  liigher 
economics,  with  all  the  developments  and  rami- 
fications which  have  grown  and  which  will 
hereafter  grow  out  of  them.  The  root  of 
everything  human  reaches  down  into  the  dark 
soil  of  the  animal — love  and  art,  no  less  than 
state,  justice  and  economics. 

Still  another  tendency  knots  yet  more  closely 
these  psychic  relations.  To  return  to  the  com- 
parison of  the  herdsman  and  the  bear,  there  are 
in  the  desert,  beside  the  bear  who  guards  the 
bees,  other  bears  who  also  lust  after  honey. 
But  our  tribe  of  herdsmen  blocks  their  way, 
and  protects  its  beehives  by  force  of  arms. 
The  peasants  become  accustomed,  when  dan- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       69 

ger  threatens,  to  call  on  the  herdsmen,  whom 
they  no  longer  regard  as  robbers  and  murder- 
ers, but  as  protectors  and  saviors.  Imagine 
the  joy  of  the  peasants  when  the  returning 
band  of  avengers  brings  back  to  the  village  the 
looted  women  and  children,  with  the  enemies' 
heads  or  scalps.  These  ties  are  no  longer 
threads,  but  strong  and  knotted  bands. 

Here  is  one  of  the  principal  forces  of  that 
"integration,"  whereby  in  the  further  develop- 
ment, those  originally  not  of  the  same  blood, 
and  often  enough  of  different  groups  speak- 
ing different  languages,  will  in  the  end  be 
welded  together  into  one  people,  with  one 
speech,  one  custom,  and  one  feeling  of  nation- 
ality. This  unity  grows  by  degrees  from  com- 
mon suffering  and  need,  common  victory 
and  defeat,  common  rejoicing  and  common 
sorrow.  A  new  and  vast  domain  is  open  when 
master  and  slave  serve  the  same  interests ;  then 
arises  a  stream  of  sympathy,  a  sense  of  com- 
mon service.  Both  sides  apprehend,  and 
gradually  recognize,  each  other's  common  hu- 
manity.    Gradually  the  points  of  similarity 


70  THE  STATE 

are  sensed,  in  place  of  the  differences  in  build 
and  apparel,  of  language  and  religion,  which 
had  heretofore  brought  about  only  antipathy 
and  hatred.  Gradually  they  learn  to  under- 
stand one  another,  first  through  a  common 
speech,  and  then  through  a  common  mental 
habit.  The  net  of  the  psychical  inter-rela- 
tions becomes  stronger. 

In  this  second  stage  of  the  formation  of 
states,  the  ground  work,  in  its  essentials,  has 
been  mapped  out.  No  further  step  can  be 
compared  in  importance  to  the  transition 
whereby  the  bear  becomes  a  bee-keeper.  For 
this  reason,  short  references  must  suffice. 

The  third  stage  arrives  when  the  "surplus" 
obtained  by  the  peasantry  is  brought  by  them 
regularly  to  the  tents  of  the  herdsmen  as  "trib- 
ute," a  regulation  which  affords  to  both 
parties  self-evident  and  considerable  advan- 
tages. By  this  means,  the  peasantry  is  re- 
lieved entirely  from  the  little  irregularities 
connected  with  the  former  method  of  taxation, 
such  as  a  few  men  knocked  on  the  head,  women 
violated,  or  farmhouses  burned  down.     The 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       71 

herdsmen  on  the  other  hand,  need  no  longer 
apply  to  this  ^'business"  any  "expense"  and 
labor,  to  use  a  mercantile  expression;  and  they 
devote  the  time  and  energy  thus  set  free  to- 
ward an  "extension  of  the  works,"  in  other 
w^ords,  to  subjugating  other  peasants. 

This  form  of  tribute  is  found  in  many  well- 
known  instances  in  history :  Huns,  Magyars, 
Tartars,  Turks,  have  derived  their  largest  in- 
come from  their  European  tributes.  Some- 
times the  character  of  the  tribute  paid  by  the 
subjects  to  their  master  is  more  or  less  blurred, 
and  the  act  assumes  the  guise  of  payment  for 
protection,  or  indeed,  of  a  subvention.  The 
tale  is  well  known  whereby  Attila  was  pic- 
tured by  the  weakling  emperor  at  Constanti- 
nople as  a  vassal  prince;  while  the  tribute  he 
paid  to  the  Hun  appeared  as  a  fee. 

The  fourth  stage,  once  more,  is  of  very  great 
importance,  since  it  adds  the  decisive  factor  in 
the  development  of  the  state,  as  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  see  it,  namely,  the  union  on  one  strip 
of  land  of  both  ethnic  groups.*      (It  is  well 

*  There  is  apparently  in  the  case  of  the  Fulbe,  a  transition 


72  THE  STATE 

known  that  no  jural  definition  of  a  state  can 
be  arrived  at  without  the  concept  of  state  terri- 
tory.) From  now  on,  the  relation  of  the  two 
groups,  which  was  originally  international, 
gradually  becomes  more  and  more  intra- 
national. 

This  territorial  union  may  be  caused  by 
foreign  influences.  It  may  be  that  stronger 
hordes  have  crowded  the  herdsmen  forward,  or 
that  their  increase  in  population  has  reached 
the  limit  set  by  the  nutritive  capacity  of  the 
steppes  or  prairies;  it  may  be  that  a  great 
cattle  plague  has  forced  the  herdsmen  to  ex- 
stage  between  the  first  three  stages  and  the  fourth,  in  which 
dominion  is  exercised  half  internationally  and  half  intra- 
nationally.  According  to  Ratzel  (1.  c.  II,  page  419): 
"Like  a  cuttle-fish,  the  conquering  race  stretches  niunerous 
arms  hither  and  thither  among  the  terrified  aborigines,  whose 
lack  of  cohesion  afi'ords  plenty  of  gaps.  Thus  the  Fulbe 
are  slowly  flowing  into  the  Benue  countries  and  quite  grad- 
ually permeating  them.  Later  observers  have  thus  quite  rightly 
abstained  from  assigning  definite  boundaries.  There  are  many 
scattered  Fulbe  localities  which  look  to  a  particular  place  as 
their  center  and  as  the  center  of  their  power.  Thus  Muri 
is  the  capital  of  the  numerous  Fulbe  settlements  scattered 
about  the  Middle  Benue,  and  the  position  of  Gola  is  similar 
in  the  Adaraawa  district.  As  yet  there  are  no  proper  king- 
doms with  defined  frontiers  against  each  other  and  against 
independent  tribes.  Even  these  capitals  are  in  other  respects 
still  far  from  being  firmly  settled." 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       73 

change  the  unhmited  scope  of  the  prairies  for 
the  narroM^s  of  some  river  valley.  In  general, 
however,  internal  causes  alone  suffice  to  bring 
it  about  that  the  herdsmen  stay  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  their  peasants.  The  duty  of  pro- 
tecting their  tributaries  against  other  "bears" 
forces  them  to  keep  a  levy  of  young  warriors  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  subjects;  and  this 
is  at  the  same  time  an  excellent  measure  of  de- 
fense since  it  prevents  the  peasants  from  giv- 
ing way  to  a  desire  to  break  their  bonds,  or  to 
let  some  other  herdsmen  become  their  over- 
lords. This  latter  occurrence  is  by  no  means 
rare,  since,  if  tradition  is  correct,  it  is  the  means 
whereby  the  sons  of  Rurik  came  to  Russia. 

As  yet  the  local  juxtaposition  does  not  mean 
a  state  community  in  its  narrowest  sense;  that 
is  to  say,  a  unital  organization. 

In  case  the  herdsmen  are  dealing  with  ut- 
terly unwarlike  subjects,  they  carry  on  their 
nomad  life,  peaceably  wandering  up  and  down 
and  herding  their  cattle  among  their  perioike 
and  helots.  This  is  the  case  with  the  light- 
colored  Wahuma,"^  "the  handsomest  men  of 


74  THE  STATE 

the  world"  (Kandt) ,  in  Central  Africa,  or  the 
Tuareg  clan  of  the  Hadanara  of  the  Asgars, 
"who  have  taken  up  their  seats  among  the  Im- 
rad  and  have  become  wandering  freebooters. 
These  Imrad  are  the  serving  class  of  the  As- 
gars, who  live  on  them,  although  the  Imrad 
could  put  into  the  field  ten  times  as  many  war- 
riors ;  the  situation  is  analogous  to  that  of  the 
Spartans  in  relation  to  their  Helots."  ^^  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  Teda  among  the 
neighboring  Borku:  "Just  as  the  land  is  di- 
vided into  a  semi-desert  supporting  the  no- 
mads, and  gardens  with  date  groves,  so  the 
population  is  divided  between  nomads  and  set- 
tled folk.  Although  about  equal  in  number, 
ten  to  twelve  thousand  altogether,  it  goes  with- 
out saying  that  these  latter  are  subject  to  the 
others." "" 

And  the  same  applies  to  the  entire  group  of 
herdsmen  known  as  the  Galla  Masi  and  Wa- 
huma.  "Although  differences  in  possessions 
are  considerable,  they  have  few  slaves,  as  a 
serving  class.  These  are  represented  by 
peoples  of  a  lower  caste,  who  live  separate  and 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       75 

apart  from  them.  It  is  herdsmanship  which  is 
the  basis  of  the  family,  of  the  state,  and  along 
with  these  of  the  principle  of  political  evolu- 
tion. In  this  wide  territory,  between  Scehoa 
and  its  southernmost  boundaries,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Zanzibar  on  the  other,  there  is  found 
no  strong  political  power,  in  spite  of  the  highly 
developed  social  articulation."  ^^ 

In  case  the  country  is  not  adapted  to  herd- 
ing cattle  on  a  large  scale — as  was  universally 
the  case  in  Western  Europe — or  where  a  less 
unwarlike  population  might  make  attempts  at 
insurrection,  the  crowd  of  lords  becomes  more 
or  less  permanently  settled,  taking  either  steep 
places  or  strategically  important  points  for 
their  camps,  castles,  or  towns.  From  these 
centers,  they  control  their  "subjects,"  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  gathering  their  tribute,  pay- 
ing no  attention  to  them  in  other  respects. 
They  let  them  administer  their  affairs,  carry 
on  their  religious  worship,  settle  their  disputes, 
and  adjust  their  methods  of  internal  economy. 
Their  autochthonous  constitution,  their  local 
officials,  are,  in  fact,  not  interfered  with. 


76  THE  STATE 

If  Frants  Buhl  reports  correctly,  that  was 
the  beginning  of  the  rule  of  the  Israelites  in 
Canaan.^^  Abyssinia,  that  great  military 
force,  though  at  the  first  glance  it  may  appear 
to  be  a  fully  developed  state,  does  not,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  advanced  beyond  the  fourth 
stage.  At  least  Ratzel  states:  ''The  prin- 
cipal care  of  the  Abyssinians  consists  in  the 
tribute,  in  which  they  follow  the  method  of 
oriental  monarchs  in  olden  and  modern  times, 
which  is  not  to  interfere  with  the  internal  man- 
agement and  administration  of  justice  of  their 
subject  peoples."  ^^ 

The  best  example  of  the  fourth  stage  is 
found  in  the  situation  in  ancient  Mexico  before 
the  Spanish  conquest:  "The  confederation 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Mexicans  had 
somewhat  more  progressive  ideas  of  conquest. 
Only  those  tribes  were  wiped  out  that  offered 
resistance.  In  other  cases,  the  vanquished 
were  merely  plundered,  and  then  required  to 
pay  tribute.  The  defeated  tribe  governed  it- 
self just  as  before,  through  its  own  officials. 
It  was  different  in  Peru,  where  the  formation 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       77 

of  a  compact  empire  followed  the  first  attack. 
In  jNIexico,  intimidation  and  exploitation  were 
the  only  aims  of  the  conquest.  And  so  it  came 
about  that  the  so-called  Empire  of  Mexico  at 
the  time  of  the  conquest  represented  merely  a 
group  of  intimidated  Indian  tribes,  whose  fed- 
eration with  one  another  was  prevented  by 
their  fear  of  plundering  expeditions  from  some 
unassailable  fort  in  their  midst."  "^  It  will  be 
observed  that  one  can  not  speak  of  this  as  a 
state  in  any  proper  sense.  Ratzel  shows  this 
in  the  note  following  the  above :  *'It  is  certain 
that  the  various  points  held  in  subjection  by 
the  warriors  of  INIontezuma  were  separated 
from  one  another  by  stretches  of  territory  not 
yet  conquered.  A  condition  very  like  the  rule 
of  the  Hova  in  IMadagascar.  One  would  not 
say  that  scattering  a  few  garrisons,  or  better 
still,  military  colonies,  over  the  land,  is  a  mark 
of  absolute  dominion,  since  these  colonies,  with 
great  trouble,  maintain  a  strip  of  a  few  miles 
in  subjection."  ^^ 

The  logic  of  events  presses  quickly  from  the 
fourth  to  the  fifth  stage,  and  fashions  almost 


78  THE  STATE 

completely  the  full  state.  Quarrels  arise  be- 
tween neighboring  villages  or  clans,  which  the 
lords  no  longer  permit  to  be  fought  out,  since 
by  this  the  capacity  of  the  jDcasants  for  service 
would  be  impaired.  The  lords  assume  the 
right  to  arbitrate,  and  in  case  of  need,  to  en- 
force their  judgment.  In  the  end,  it  happens 
that  at  each  "court"  of  the  village  king  or  chief 
of  the  clan  there  is  an  official  deputy  who  ex- 
ercises the  power,  while  the  chiefs  are  per- 
mitted to  retain  the  aj)pearance  of  authorit^^ 
The  state  of  the  Incas  shows,  in  a  primitive 
condition,  a  typical  example  of  this  arrange- 
ment. 

Here  we  find  the  Incas  united  at  Cuzco 
where  they  had  their  patrimonial  lands  and 
dwellings.^^  A  representative  of  the  Incas,  the 
Tucricuc,  however,  resided  in  every  district  at 
the  court  of  the  native  chieftain.  He  "  had 
supervision  over  all  affairs  of  his  district;  he 
raised  the  troops,  superintended  the  delivery 
of  the  tribute,  ordered  the  forced  labor  on 
roads  and  bridges,  superintended  the  adminis- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       79 

tration  of  justice,  and  in  short  supervised 
everything  in  his  district."  ^^ 

The  same  institutions  which  have  been  de- 
veloped by  American  huntsmen  and  Semite 
shepherds  are  found  also  among  African 
herdsmen.  In  Ashanti,  the  system  of  the  Tuc- 
ricuc  has  been  developed  in  a  typical  fashion ;  ^^ 
and  the  Dualla  have  established  for  their  sub- 
jects living  in  segregated  villages  ''an  institu- 
tion based  on  conquest  midway  between  a 
feudal  system  and  slavery."  ^^  The  same 
author  reports  that  the  Barotse  have  a  consti- 
tution corresponding  to  the  earhest  stage  of 
the  medieval  feudal  organization :  ''Their  vil- 
lages are  ...  as  a  rule  surrounded  by  a  cir- 
cle of  hamlets  where  their  serfs  live.  These 
till  the  fields  of  their  lords  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood,  grow  grain,  or  herd  the 
cattle."  ^^  The  only  thing  that  is  not  typical 
here  consists  in  this,  that  the  lords  do  not  live 
in  isolated  castles  or  halls,  but  are  settled  in 
villages  among  their  subjects. 

It  is  only  a  very  small  step  from  the  Incas  to 


80  THE  STATE 

the  Dorians  in  Lacedsemon,  Messenia,  or 
Crete;  and  no  greater  distance  separates  the 
Fulbe,  Dualla  and  Barotse  from  the  compar- 
atively rigidly  organized  feudal  states  of  the 
African  Negro  Emj)ires  of  Uganda,  Unyoro, 
etc.;  and  the  corresponding  feudal  empires  of 
Eastern  and  Western  Europe  and  of  all  Asia. 
In  all  places,  the  same  results  are  brought 
about  by  force  of  the  same  socio-psychological 
causes.  The  necessity  of  keeping  the  subjects 
in  order  and  at  the  same  time  of  maintaining 
them  at  their  full  capacity  for  labor,  leads  step 
by  step  from  the  fifth  to  the  sixth  stage,  in 
which  the  state,  by  acquiring  full  intra-nation- 
ality  and  by  the  evolution  of  ^^Nationality,"  is 
developed  in  every  sense.  The  need  becomes 
more  and  more  frequent  to  interfere,  to  allay 
difficulties,  to  punish,  or  to  coerce  obedience; 
and  thus  develo^D  the  habit  of  rule  and  the 
usages  of  government.  The  two  groups,  sep- 
arated, to  begin  with,  and  then  united  on  one 
territory,  are  at  first  merely  laid  alongside  one 
another,  then  are  scattered  through  one  an- 
other like  a  mechanical  mixture,  as  the  term  is 


GENESIS  OF  THE  STATE       81 

used  in  chemistry,  until  gradually  they  become 
more  and  more  of  a  "chemical  combination." 
They  intermingle,  unite,  amalgamate  to  unity, 
in  customs  and  habits,  in  speech  and  worship. 
Soon  the  bonds  of  relationship  unite  the  upper 
and  the  lower  strata.  In  nearly  all  cases  the 
master  class  picks  the  handsomest  virgins  from 
the  subject  races  for  its  concubines.  A  race 
of  bastards  thus  develops,  sometimes  taken 
into  the  ruling  class,  sometimes  rejected,  and 
then  because  of  the  blood  of  the  masters  in 
their  veins,  becoming  the  bom  leaders  of  the 
subject  race.  In  form  and  in  content  the 
primitive  state  is  comx^leted. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE 
(a)   THE  FORM  OF  DOMINION 

Its  form  is  domination;  the  dominion  of  a 
small  warlike  minority,  interrelated  and 
closely  allied,  over  a  definitely  bomided  terri- 
tory and  its  cultivators.  Gradually,  custom 
develops  some  form  of  law  in  accordance  with 
which  this  dominion  is  exercised.  This  law 
regulates  the  rights  of  primacy  and  the  claims 
of  the  lords,  and  the  duty  of  obedience  and  of 
service  on  the  part  of  the  subjects,  in  such  wise 
that  the  capacity  of  the  peasants  for  render- 
ing service  is  not  impaired.  This  word,  pfaes- 
tationsfaehigkeit,  dates  from  the  reforms  of 
Frederick  the  Great.  The  "bee-keepership," 
therefore,  is  governed  by  the  law  of  custom. 
The  duty  of  paying  and  working  on  the  part 
of  the  peasants  corresponds  to  the  duty  of  pro- 

82 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       83 

tection  on  the  part  of  the  lords,  who  ward  off 
exactions  of  then*  own  companions,  as  well  as 
defend  the  peasants  from  the  attacks  of  for- 
eign enemies. 

Although  this  is  one  part  of  the  content  of 
the  state  concept,  there  is  another,  which  in  the 
beginning  is  of  much  greater  magnitude;  the 
idea  of  economic  exploitation,  the  political 
means  for  the  satisfaction  of  needs.  The 
peasant  smTenders  a  portion  of  the  product  of 
his  labor,  without  any  equivalent  service  in  re- 
turn. ''In  the  beginning  was  the  ground 
rent/' 

The  forms  under  which  the  ground  rent  is 
collected  or  consumed  vary.  In  some  cases, 
the  lords,  as  a  closed  union  or  communitj^  are 
settled  in  some  fortified  camp  and  consume  as 
communists  the  tribute  of  their  peasantry. 
This  is  the  situation  in  the  state  of  the  Inca. 
In  some  cases,  each  individual  warrior-noble 
has  a  definite  strip  of  land  assigned  to  him :  but 
generally  the  produce  of  this  is  still,  as  in 
Sparta,  consumed  in  the  "syssitia,"  by  class 
associates  and  companions  in  arms.     In  some 


84  THE  STATE 

cases,  the  landed  nobility  scatters  over  the 
entire  territory,  each  man  housed  with  his 
following  in  his  fortified  castle,  and  consum- 
ing, each  for  liimself,  the  produce  of  his  do- 
minion or  lands.  As  yet  these  nobles  have  not 
become  landlords,  in  the  sense  that  they  ad- 
minister their  property.  Each  of  them  re- 
ceives tribute  from  the  labor  of  his  dependents, 
whom  he  neither  guides  nor  supervises.  This 
is  the  type  of  the  mediaeval  dominion  in  the 
lands  of  the  Germanic  nobility.  Finally,  the 
knight  becomes  the  owner  and  administrator 
of  the  knight's  fee.*  His  former  serfs  de- 
velop into  the  laborers  on  his  plantation,  and 
the  tribute  now  appears  as  the  profit  of  the 
entrepreneur.  This  is  the  type  of  the  earliest 
capitalist  enterprise  of  modern  times,  the  ex- 
ploitation of  large  territories  in  the  lands  east 
of  the  Elbe,  formerly  occupied  by  Slavs  and 

*  Rittergtitshesitz  is  the  ultimate  molecule  of  the  Ger- 
man feudal  system,  a  non-urban  territory,  approximating  the 
concept  of  knight's  fee  in  the  Angevin  fiscal  legislation;  in 
modern  Germanic  law,  the  possession  of  an  acreage,  alienable 
only  as  an  entity,  and  by  recent  legislation,  alienable  to  non- 
nobles,  but  subject  to  and  capable  of  certain  exceptions  in 
law  not  inhering  in  other  forms  of  real  estate. — Translator, 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       85 

later  colonized  by  Germans.     Numerous  tran- 
sitions lead  from  one  stage  to  the  other. 

But  always,  in  its  essence,  is  the  "State"  the 
same.  Its  purpose,  in  every  case,  is  found  to 
be  the  political  means  for  the  satisfaction  of 
needs.  At  first,  its  method  is  by  exacting  a 
ground  rent,  so  long  as  there  exists  no  trade 
activity  the  products  of  which  can  be  appro- 
priated. Its  form,  in  every  case,  is  that  of 
dominion,  whereby  exploitation  is  regarded  as 
"justice,"  maintained  as  a  "constitution,"  in- 
sisted on  strictly,  and  in  case  of  need  en- 
forced with  cruelty.  And  yet,  in  these  ways, 
the  absolute  right  of  the  conqueror  becomes 
narrowed  within  the  confines  of  law,  for 
the  sake  of  permitting  the  continuous  acquisi- 
tion of  ground  rents.  The  duty  of  furnishing 
supplies  on  the  part  of  the  subjects  is  limited 
by  their  right  to  maintain  themselves  in  good 
condition.  The  right  of  taxation  on  the  part 
of  the  lords  is  supplemented  by  their  duty  to 
afford  protection  within  and  without  the  state 
— security  under  the  law  and  defense  of  the 
frontier. 


86  THE  STATE 

At  this  point,  the  primitive  state  is  com- 
pletely developed  in  all  its  essentials.  It  has 
passed  the  embryonic  condition;  whatever  fol- 
lows can  be  only  phenomena  of  growth. 

As  compared  with  unions  of  families,  the 
state  represents,  doubtless,  a  much  higher 
species ;  since  the  state  embraces  a  greater  mass 
of  men,  in  closer  articulation,  more  capable 
of  conquering  nature  and  of  warding  off 
enemies.  It  changes  the  half  playful  occupa- 
tions of  men  into  strict  methodic  labor,  and 
thus  brings  untold  misery  to  innumerable  gen- 
erations yet  unborn.  Henceforth,  these  must 
eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
since  the  golden  age  of  the  free  community  of 
blood  relations  has  been  followed  by  the  iron 
y  rule  of  state  dominion.  But  the  state,  by  dis- 
covering labor  in  its  proper  sense,  starts  in  this 
world  that  force  which  alone  can  bring  about 
the  golden  age  on  a  much  higher  plane  of  eth- 
J  ical  relation  and  of  happiness  for  all.  The 
state,  to  use  Schiller's  words,  destroys  the  un- 
tutored happiness  of  the  people  while  they 
were  children,  in  order  to  bring  them  along 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       87 

a  sad  path  of  suffering  to  the  conscious  happi- 
ness of  maturity. 

A  liigher  species !  Paul  von  Lilienf eld,  one 
of  the  principal  advocates  of  the  view  that  so- 
ciety is  an  organism  of  a  higher  kind,  has 
pointed  out  that  in  this  respect  an  especially 
striking  parallel  can  be  drawn  between  ordi- 
nary organisms  and  this  super-organism.  All 
higher  beings  propagate  sexually;  lower  be- 
ings asexually,  by  partition,  by  budding  and 
sometimes  by  conjugation.  We  have  shown 
that  simple  partition  corresponds  exactly  to 
the  growth  and  the  further  development  of  the 
association  based  on  blood  relationship,  which 
existed  before  the  state.  This  grows  until  it 
becomes  too  large  for  cohesion ;  it  then  loses  its 
unity,  divides,  and  the  separate  hordes,  if  they 
associate  at  all,  remain  in  a  very  loose  connec- 
tion, without  any  sort  of  closer  articulation. 
The  amalgamation  of  exogamic  groups  is  com-  ^ 
parable  to  conjugation. 

The  state,  however,  comes  into  being 
through  sexual  propagation.  All  bisexual 
propagation  is  accomplished  by  the  following 


88  THE  STATE 

process :  The  male  element,  a  small,  very  act- 
ive, mobile,  vibrating  cell — the  spermatozoon 
— searches  out  a  large  inactive  cell  without 
mobility  of  its  own — the  ovum,  or  female  prin- 
ciple— enters  and  fuses  with  it.  From  this 
process,  there  results  an  immense  growth ;  that 
is  to  say,  a  wonderful  differentiation  with 
simultaneous  integration.  The  inactive  peas- 
antry, bound  by  nature  to  their  fields,  is  the 
ovum,  the  mobile  tribe  of  herdsmen  the  sper- 
matozoon, of  this  sociologic  act  of  fecundation ; 
and  its  resultant  is  the  ripening  of  a  higher  so- 
cial organism  more  fully  differentiated  in  its 
organs,  and  much  more  complete  in  its  integra- 
tions. It  is  easy  to  find  further  parallels. 
One  may  compare  the  border  feuds  to  the 
manner  in  which  innumerable  spermatozoa 
swarm  about  the  ovum  until  finally  one,  the 
strongest  or  most  fortunate,  discovers  and  con- 
quers the  micropyle.  One  may  compare  the 
almost  magical  attraction  which  the  ovum  has 
for  the  spermatozoon,  to  the  no  less  magical 
power  by  which  the  herdsmen  from  the  steppes 
are  drawn  into  the  cultivated  plains. 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       89 

But  all  this  is  no  proof  for  the  "'organism." 
The  problem,  however,  has  been  pointed  out. 

(b)    THE  INTEGRATION 

We  have  followed  the  genesis  of  the  state, 
from  its  second  stage  onward,  in  its  objective 
growth  as  a  political  and  jural  form  with  eco- 
nomic content.  But  it  is  far  more  important 
to  examine  its  subjective  growth,  its  socio- 
psychological  "differentiation  and  integra- 
tion," since  all  sociology  is  nearly  always  social 
psychology.  First,  then,  let  us  discuss  inte- 
gration. 

We  saw  in  the  second  stage,  as  set  forth 
above,  how  the  net  of  psychical  relations  be- 
comes ever  tighter  and  closer  enmeshed,  as  the 
economic  amalgamation  advances.  The  two 
dialects  become  one  language;  or  one  of  the 
two,  often  of  an  entirely  different  stock  from 
the  other,  becomes  extinct.  This,  in  some 
cases,  is  the  language  of  the  victors,  but 
more  frequently  that  of  the  vanquished. 
Both  cults  amalgamate  to  one  religion,  in 
which   the    tribal   god    of   the    conquerors   is 


90  THE  STATE 

adored  as  the  principal  divinity,  while  the 
old  gods  of  the  vanquished  become  either 
his  servants,  or,  as  demons  or  devils,  his  adver- 
saries. The  bodily  type  tends  to  assimilate, 
through  the  influence  of  the  same  climate  and 
similar  mode  of  living.  Where  a  strong  dif- 
ference between  the  types  existed  or  is  main- 
tained,^^ the  bastards,  to  a  certain  extent,  fill 
the  gap — so  that,  in  spite  of  the  still  existing 
ethnic  contrast,  everybody,  more  and  more,  be- 
gins to  feel  that  the  type  of  the  enemies  beyond 
the  border  is  more  strange,  more  "foreign" 
than  is  the  new  co-national  type.  Lords  and 
subjects  view  one  another  as  "we,"  at  least  as 
concerns  the  enemy  beyond  the  border ;  and  at 
length  the  memory  of  the  difl*erent  origin 
completely  disappears.  The  conquerors  are 
held  to  be  the  sons  of  the  old  gods.  This,  in 
many  cases,  they  literally  are,  since  these  gods 
are  nothing  but  the  souls  of  their  ancestors 
raised  to  godhead  by  apotheosis. 

Since  the  new  "states"  are  much  more  ag- 
gressive than  the  former  communities  bound 
together  by  mere  blood  relationship,  the  feeling 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE      91 

of  being  different  from  the  foreigner  bej^ond 
the  borders,  growing  in  frequent  feuds  and 
wars,  becomes  stronger  and  stronger  among 
those  within  the  "realm  of  peace."  And  in  the 
same  measure  there  grows  among  them  the 
feehng  of  belonging  to  another;  so  that  the 
si)irit  of  fraternity  and  of  equity,  which  for- 
merly existed  only  within  the  horde  and  which 
never  ceased  to  hold  sway  within  the  associa- 
tion of  nobles,  takes  root  everywhere,  and  more 
and  more  finds  its  place  in  the  relations  be- 
tween the  lords  and  their  subjects. 

At  first  these  relations  are  manifested  only 
in  infrequent  cases:  equity  and  fraternity  are 
allowed  only  such  play  as  is  consistent  with  the 
right  to  use  the  political  means ;  but  that  much 
is  granted.  A  far  stronger  bond  of  psychical 
community  between  high  and  low,  more  potent 
than  any  success  against  foreign  invasion,  is 
woven  by  legal  protection  against  the  aggres- 
sion of  the  mighty.  ''Justitia  fundamentuvi 
regnorum"  When,  pursuant  to  their  own 
ideals  of  justice,  the  aristocrats  as  a  social 
group    execute   one    of   their   own    class    for 


92  THE  STATE 

murder  or  robbery,  for  having  exceeded  the 
bounds  of  permitted  exploitation,  the  thanks 
and  the  joy  of  the  subjects  are  even  more  heart- 
felt than  after  victory  over  alien  foes. 

These,  then,  are  the  principal  lines  of  de- 
velopment of  the  psychical  integration.  Com- 
mon interest  in  maintaining  order  and  law  and 
peace  produce  a  strong  feeling  of  solidarity, 
which  may  be  called  "a  consciousness  of  be- 
longing to  the  same  state." 

(c)    THE  differentiation:  group  theories 

AND  GROUP  PSYCHOLOGY 

On  the  other  hand,  as  in  all  organic  growth, 
there  develops  jjaii  passu  a  psychic  differenti- 
ation just  as  powerful.  The  interests  of  the 
group  produce  strong  group  feelings;  the 
upper  and  lower  strata  develop  a  "class  con- 
sciousness" corresponding  to  their  peculiar  in- 
terests. 

The  separate  interest  of  the  master  group 
is  served  by  maintaining  intact  the  imposed 
law  of  political  means ;  such  interest  makes  for 
"conservatism."     The  interest  of  the  subject 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE      93 

group,  on  the  contrary,  points  to  the  removal 
of  the  prevailing  rule,  to  the  substitution  for 
it  of  a  new  rule,  the  law  of  equality  for  all  in- 
habitants of  the  state,  and  makes  for  "liberal- 
ism" and  revolution. 

Herein  lies  the  tap  root  of  all  class  and 
party  psychology.  Hence  there  develop,  in 
accordance  with  definite  psychological  laws, 
those  incomparably  mighty  forms  of  thought 
which,  as  ''class  theories,"  through  thousands  of 
years  of  struggle  guide  and  justify  every  so- 
cial contest  in  the  consciousness  of  contempor- 
aries. 

"When  the  will  speaks  reason  has  to  be 
silent,"  says  Schopenhauer,  or  as  Ludwig 
Gumplowicz  states  the  same  idea,  "Man  acts 
in  accordance  with  laws  of  nature,  as  an  after- 
thought he  thinks  humanly."  Man's  will 
being  strictly  "determined,"  he  must  act  ac- 
cording to  the  pressure  which  the  surrounding 
world  exerts  upon  him;  and  the  same  law  is 
valid  for  every  community  of  men:  groups, 
classes,  and  the  state  itself.  They  "flow  from 
the  plane  of  higher  economic  and  social  pres- 


94  THE  STATE 

sure  to  that  of  lower  pressure,  along  the  line 
of  least  resistance."  But  every  individual  and 
each  community  of  men  believe  themselves  free 
agents;  and  therefore,  by  an  unescapable 
psychical  law  they  are  forced  to  consider  the 
path  they  are  traversing  as  a  freely  chosen 
means,  and  the  point  toward  which  they  are 
driven  as  a  freely  chosen  end.  And  since  man 
is  a  rational  and  ethical  being,  that  is,  a  social 
entity,  he  is  obliged  to  justify  before  reason 
and  morality  the  method  and  the  objective 
point  of  his  movement,  and  to  take  account  of 
the  social  consciousness  of  his  time. 

So  long  as  the  relations  of  both  groups  were 
simply  those  of  internationally  opposed  border 
enemies,  the  exercise  of  the  political  means 
called  for  no  justification,  because  a  man  of 
alien  blood  had  no  rights.  As  soon,  however, 
as  the  psychic  integration  develops,  in  any  de- 
gree, the  community  feeling  of  state  conscious- 
ness, as  soon  as  the  bond  servant  acquires 
"rights,"  and  the  consciousness  of  essential 
equality  percolates  through  the  mass,  the  polit- 
ical means  requires  a  system  of  justification; 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       95 

and  there  arises  in  the  ruhng  class  the  group 
theory  of  "legitimacy." 

Everywhere,  the  upholders  of  legitimacy 
justify  dominion  and  exploitation  with  similar 
anthropological  and  theological  reasoning. 
The  master  group,  since  it  recognizes  bravery 
and  warlike  efficiency  as  the  only  virtues  of  a 
man,  declares  itself,  the  victors, — and  from  its 
standpoint  quite  correctly — to  be  the  more  ef- 
ficient, the  better  ''race."  This  point  of  view 
is  the  more  intensified,  the  lower  the  subject 
race  is  reduced  by  hard  labor  and  low  fare. 
And  since  the  tribal  god  of  the  ruling  group 
has  become  the  supreme  god  in  the  new  amal- 
gamated state  religion,  this  religion  declares — 
and  again  from  its  view-point  quite  correctly — 
that  the  constitution  of  the  state  has  been  de- 
creed by  heaven,  that  it  is  "tabu,"  and  that 
interference  with  it  is  sacrilege.  In  eon- 
sequence,  therefore,  of  a  simple  logical  inver- 
sion, the  exploited  or  subject  group  is  re- 
garded as  an  essentially  inferior  race,  as  un- 
ruly, tricky,  lazy,  cowardly  and  utterly  incap- 
able of  self-rule  or  self-defense,  so  that  any  up- 


96  THE  STATE 

rising  against  the  imposed  dominion  must  nec- 
essarily appear  as  a  revolt  against  God  Him- 
self and  against  His  moral  ordinances.  For 
these  reasons,  the  dominant  group  at  all  times 
stands  in  closest  union  with  the  priesthood, 
which,  in  its  highest  positions,  at  least,  nearly 
always  recruits  itself  from  their  sons,  sharing 
their  political  rights  and  economic  privileges. 

This  has  been,  and  is  at  this  day,  the  class 
theory  of  the  ruling  group;  nothing  has  been 
taken  from  it,  not  an  item  has  been  added  to  it. 
Even  the  very  modern  argument  by  which,  for 
example,  the  landed  nobility  of  old  France  and 
of  modern  Prussia  attempted  to  put  out  of 
court  the  claims  of  the  peasantry  to  the  owner- 
ship of  lands,  on  the  allegation  that  they  had 
owned  the  land  from  time  immemorial,  while 
their  peasants  had  only  been  granted  a  life 
tenure  therein, — is  reproduced  among  the  Wa- 
huma,  of  Africa,^^  and  probably  could  be 
shown  in  many  other  instances. 

Like  their  class  theory,  their  class  psy- 
chology has  been,  and  is,  at  all  times  the  same. 
Its  most  important  characteristic,  the  "aristo- 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE      97 

crat's  pride,"  shows  itself  iii  contempt  for  the 
lower  laboring  strata.  This  is  so  inherent, 
that  herdsmen,  even  after  they  have  lost  their 
herds  and  become  economically  dependent,  still 
retain  their  pride  as  former  lords:  "Even  the 
Galla,  who  have  been  despoiled  of  their  wealth 
of  herds  by  the  Somali  north  of  the  Tana,  and 
who  thus  have  become  watchers  of  other  men's 
herds,  and  even  in  some  cases  along  the  Sabaki 
become  peasants,  still  look  with  contempt  upon 
the  peasant  Watokomo,  who  are  subject  to 
them  and  resemble  the  Suaheli.  But  their  at- 
titude is  quite  different  toward  their  tributary 
hunting  peoples,  namely,  the  Waboni,  the 
Wassanai,  and  the  Walangulo  (Ariangulo) 
who  resemble  the  Galla."  ^^ 

The  following  description  of  the  Tibbu 
applies,  as  though  it  had  been  originally  told 
of  them,  to  Walter  Havenaught  and  the  rest  of 
the  poor  knights  who,  in  the  crusades,  looked 
for  booty  and  lordly  domain.  It  applies  no 
less  to  many  a  noble  fighting  cock  from  Ger- 
many east  of  the  Elbe,  and  to  many  a  ragged 
Polish  gentleman.     "They  are  men  full  of  self- 


98  THE  STATE 

consciousness.  They  may  be  beggars,  but 
they  are  no  pariahs.  Many  a  jDeople  under 
these  circumstances  would  be  thoroughly 
miserable  and  depressed;  the  Tibbu  have  steel 
in  their  nature.  They  are  splendidly  fitted 
to  be  robbers,  warriors,  and  rulers.  Even  their 
system  of  robbery  is  imposing,  although  it  is 
base  as  a  jackal's.  These  ragged  Tibbus, 
fighting  against  extreme  poverty  and  con- 
stantly on  the  verge  of  starvation,  raise  the 
most  impudent  claims  with  apparent  or  real 
belief  in  their  validity.  The  right  of  the 
jackal,  which  regards  the  possessions  of  a 
stranger  as  common  property,  is  the  protec- 
tion of  greedy  men  against  want.  The  inse- 
curity of  an  all  but  perpetual  state  of  war 
brings  it  about  that  life  becomes  an  insistent 
challenge,  and  at  the  same  time  the  reward  of 
extortion!  "  ^^  This  phenomenon  is  in  nowise 
limited  to  Eastern  Africa,  for  it  is  said  of  the 
Abyssinian  soldier:  *'  Thus  equipped  he 
comes  along.  Proudly  he  looks  down  on 
every  one :  his  is  the  land,  and  for  him  the  peas- 
ant must  work."  ^^ 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE       99 

Deeply  as  the  aristocrat  at  all  times  despises 
the  economic  means  and  the  peasants  who  em- 
ploy it,  he  admits  frankly  his  reliance  on  the 
political  means.  Honest  war  and  "honest 
thievery"  *  are  his  occupation  as  a  lord,  are  his 
good  right.  His  right — except  pver  those  who 
belong  to  the  same  clique — extends  just  as  far 
as  his  power.  One  finds  this  high  praise  of  the 
political  means  nowhere  so  well  stated  as  in 
the  wxll-known  Doric  drinking  song: 

"I  have  great  treasures;  the  spear  and  the  sword; 

Wherewith  to   guard  my  body,  the  bull  hide  shield 
well  tried. 
With  these  I  can  plough,  and  harvest  my  crop, 

With  these  I  can  garner  the  sweet  grape  wine, 
By  them  I  bear  the  name  'Lord'  with  my  serfs. 

"But  these  never  dare  to  bear  spear  and  sword, 

Still  less  the  guard  of  the  body,  the  bull  hide  shield 
well  tried. 
They  lie  at  my  feet  stretched  out  on  the  ground. 

My  hand  is  licked  by  them  as  by  hounds, 
I    am    their   Persian    king — terrifying    them     by    my 
name."  ^^ 

In  these  wanton  lines  is  expressed  the  pride 

*  Compare   this   with   the   prevalent   justification   of    "honest 
graft"  in  municipal  or  poHtical  contracts.— Tran^Zafor. 


100  THE  STATE 

of  warlike  lords.  The  following  verses,  taken 
from  an  entirely  different  phase  of  civilization, 
show  that  the  robber  still  has  part  in  the  war- 
rior in  spite  of  Christianity,  the  Peace  of  God, 
and  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  of  the  German 
Nation.  These  lines  also  praise  the  political 
means,  but  in  its  most  crude  form,  simple  rob- 
bery : 

"Would  you  eke  out  your  life,  my  young  noble  squire, 
Follow  then  my  teaching,  upon  your  horse  and  join 
the  gang! 
Take  to  the  greenwood,  when  the  peasant  comes  up, 

Run  him  down  quickly,  grab  him  then  by  the  collar. 
Rejoice  in  your  heart,  taking  from  him  whatever  he  has. 
Unharness  his  horses  and  get  you  away !  "  ^^ 

"Unless,"  as  Sombart  adds,  "he  preferred 
to  hunt  nobler  game  and  to  relieve  merchants 
of  their  valuable  consignments.  The  nobles 
carried  on  robbery  as  a  natural  method  of  sup- 
plementing their  earnings,  extending  it  more 
and  more  as  the  income  from  their  property  no 
longer  sufficed  to  pay  for  the  increasing  de- 
mands of  daily  consumption  and  luxury.  The 
system  of  freebooting  was  considered  a 
thoroughly  honorable  occupation,  since  it  met 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     101 

the  demand  of  the  essence  of  chivalry,  that 
every  one  should  appropriate  whatever  was 
within  reach  of  his  spear  point  or  of  the  blade 
of  his  sword.  The  nobles  learned  freebooting 
as  the  cobbler  was  brought  up  to  his  trade. 
The  ballad  has  put  this  in  merry  wise : 

"To  pillage,  to  rob,  that  is  no  shame, 
The  best  in  the  land  do  quite  the  same." 

Besides  this  principal  point  of  the  "squire- 
archical"  psychology,  a  second  distinguishing 
mark  scarcely  less  characteristic  is  found  in  the 
piety  of  these  folk  whether  it  be  of  conviction 
or  merely  strongly  accentuated  in  public. 

It  seems  as  though  the  same  social  ideas 
always  force  identical  characteristics  on  the  rul- 
ing class.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  form  un- 
der which  God,  in  their  view,  appears  as  their 
special  National  God  and  preponderatingly  as 
a  God  of  War.  Although  they  profess  God 
as  the  creator  of  all  men,  even  of  their  enemies, 
and  since  Christianity,  as  the  God  of  Love,  this 
does  not  counteract  the  force  with  which  class 
interests  formulate  their  apiDropriate  ideol- 
ogy- 


102  THE  STATE 

In  order  to  complete  the  sketch  of  the  psy- 
chology of  the  ruling  class,  we  must  not  forget 
the  tendency  to  squander,  easily  understood 
in  those  "ignorant  of  the  taste  of  toil,"  which 
appears  sometimes  in  a  higher  form  as  gen- 
erosity; nor  must  we  forget,  as  their  supreme 
trait,  that  death-despising  bravery,  which  is 
called  forth  by  the  coercion  imposed  on  a  mi- 
nority^ their  need  to  defend  their  rights  at  any 
time  with  arms,  and  which  is  favored  by  a  free- 
dom from  all  labor  which  permits  the  develop- 
ment of  the  body  in  hunting,  sport  and  feuds. 
Its  caricature  is  combativeness,  and  a  super- 
sensitiveness  to  personal  honor,  which  degen- 
erates into  madness. 

At  this  point  a  small  digression:  Caesar 
found  the  Celts  just  at  that  stage  of  their  de- 
velopment, in  which  the  nobles  had  obtained 
dominion  over  their  fellow  clansmen.  Since 
that  time,  his  classic  narrative  has  stood  as  a 
norm — their  class  psychology  appears  as  the 
race  psychology  of  all  Celts.  Not  even 
INIommsen  escaped  this  error.  The  result  is 
that  now,  in  every  book  on  universal  history  or 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     103 

sociology,  one  may  read  the  palpable  error,  re- 
peated until  contradiction  is  of  no  avail,  al- 
though a  mere  glance  would  have  sufficed  to 
show  that  all  peoples  of  all  races,  in  the  same 
stage  of  their  development,  have  showed  the 
same  characteristics;  in  Europe,  Thessalians, 
Apulians,  Campanians,  Germans,  Poles,  etc. 
JMeanwhile  the  Celts,  and  s]3ecifically  the 
French,  in  different  stages  of  their  develop- 
ment, have  showed  quite  different  traits  of 
character.  The  psychology  belongs  to  the 
stage  of  development,  not  to  the  race! 

Whenever,  on  the  other  hand,  the  religious 
sanctions  of  the  "state"  are  weak,  or  become  so, 
there  develops  as  a  group  theory  on  the  part  of 
the  subjects,  the  concept,  either  clear  or 
blurred,  of  Natural  Law,  The  lower  class  re- 
gards the  race  pride  and  the  assumed  sux)erior- 
ity  of  the  nobles  as  presumptuous,  claims  to 
be  of  as  good  race  and  blood  as  the  ruling 
class — and  from  their  standpoint  again  quite 
correctly,  since  according  to  their  views,  labor, 
efficiency  and  order  are  accounted  the  only 
virtues.     They  are  skeptical  also  as  to  the  re- 


104  THE  STATE 

ligion  which  is  the  helper  of  their  adversaries; 
and  are  as  firmly  convinced  as  are  the  nobles  of 
the  directly  opposite  opinion,  namely,  that  the 
privileges  of  the  master  group  violate  law  as 
well  as  reason.  Later  development  is  not  able 
to  add  any  essential  point  to  the  factors  origi- 
nally given. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  ideas,  now 
clearly,  now  obscurely  brought  out,  the  two 
groups  henceforth  fight  out  their  battles,  each 
for  its  own  interests.  The  young  state  would 
be  burst  apart  under  the  strain  of  such  centrif- 
ugal forces,  were  it  not  for  the  centripetal 
pull  of  common  interests,  of  the  still  more 
powerful  state-consciousness.  The  pressure 
of  foreigners  from  without,  of  common  ene- 
mies, overcomes  the  inner  strain  of  conflict- 
ing class  interests.  An  example'^ay  be  found 
in  the  tale  of  the  secession  of  the  "Plebs"  and 
the  successful  mission  of  Menenius  Agrippa. 
And  so  the  young  state  would,  like  a  planet, 
swing  through  all  eternity  in  its  predetermined 
orbit,  in  accordance  with  the  parallelogram  of 
forces,  were  it  not  that  it  and  its  surrounding 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     105 

world  is  changed  and  developed  until  it  pro- 
duces new  external  and  inner  energies. 

(d)    THE  PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE  OF  HIGHER 
GRADE 

Growth  in  itself  conditions  important 
changes ;  and  the  young  state  must  grow.  The 
same  forces  that  brought  it  into  being,  urge 
its  extension,  require  it  to  grasp  more  power. 
Even  were  such  a  young  state  "sated,"  as 
many  a  modern  state  claims  to  be,  it  would 
still  be  forced  to  stretch  and  grow  under 
penalty  of  extinction.  Under  primitive  social 
conditions  Goethe's  lines  apply  with  absolute 
truth:  "You  must  rise  or  fall,  conquer  or 
yield,  be  hammer  or  anvil." 

States  are  maintained  in  accordance  with 
the  same  principles  that  called  them  into  being. 
The  primitive  state  is  the  creation  of  warlike 
robbery;  and  only  by  warlike  robbery  can  it  be 
preserved. 

The  economic  want  of  the  master  group  has 
no  limits ;  no  man  is  sufficiently  rich  to  satisfy 
his  desires.     The  political  means  are  tm-ned  on 


106  THE  STATE 

new  groups  of  peasants  not  yet  subjected,  or 
new  coasts  yet  unpilf  ered  are  sought  out.  The 
primitive  state  expands,  until  a  collision  takes 
place  on  the  edge  of  the  "sphere  of  interests" 
of  another  primitive  state,  which  itself  origi- 
nated in  precisely  the  same  way.  Then  we 
have  for  the  first  time,  in  place  of  the  war- 
like robbery  heretofore  carried  on,  true  war 
in  its  narrower  sense,  since  henceforth  equally 
organized  and  disciplined  masses  are  hurled  at 
one  another. 

The  object  of  the  contest  remains  always 
the  same,  the  produce  of  the  economic  means 
of  the  working  classes,  such  as  loot,  tribute, 
taxes  and  ground  rent;  but  the  contest  no 
longer  takes  place  between  a  group  intent  on 
exploiting  and  another  mass  to  be  exploited, 
but  between  two  master  groups  for  the  pos- 
session of  the  entire  booty. 

The  final  result  of  the  conflict,  in  nearly  all 
instances,  is  the  amalgamation  of  both  primi- 
tive states  into  a  greater.  This  in  turn, 
naturally  and  by  force  of  the  same  causes, 
reaches  beyond  its  borders,  devours  its  smaller 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     107 

neighbors,  and  is  perhaps  in  its  turn  devoured 
by  some  greater  state. 

The  subjected  laboring  group  may  not  take 
much  interest  in  the  final  issue  of  these  con- 
tests for  the  mastery;  it  is  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference whether  it  pays  tribute  to  one  or  the 
other  set  of  lords.  Their  chief  interest  lies  in 
the  course  of  the  particular  fight,  which  is, 
in  any  case,  paid  for  \^dth  their  own  hides. 
Therefore,  except  in  cases  of  gi^oss  ill  treat- 
ment and  exploitation,  the  lower  classes  are 
rightly  governed  by  their  ''state-consciousness" 
when,  with  all  their  might  they  aid  their 
hereditary  master  group  in  times  of  war.  For 
if  their  master  group  is  vanquished,  the  sub- 
jects suffer  most  severely  from  the  utter 
devastation  of  war.  They  fight  literally  for 
wife  and  children,  for  home  and  hearth,  when 
they  fight  to  prevent  the  rule  of  foreign  mas- 
ters. 

The  master  group  is  involved  completely 
in  the  issue  of  this  fight  for  dominion.  In  ex- 
treme cases,  it  may  be  completely  extermi- 
nated, as  were  the  local  nobility  of  the  Ger- 


108  THE  STATE 

manic  tribes  in  the  Frankish  Empire.  Nearly 
as  bad,  if  not  worse,  is  the  prospect  of  being 
thrust  into  the  group  of  the  serfs.  Some- 
times a  well-timed  treaty  of  peace  preserves 
their  social  position  as  master  groups  of  sub- 
ordinate rank:  e.  g.,  the  Saxon  nobility  in 
Norman  England,  or  the  Suppans  in  Ger- 
man territory  taken  from  the  Slavs.  In  other 
cases,  where  the  forces  are  about  equal,  the 
two  groups  amalgamate  into  one  master  group 
with  equal  rights,  which  forms  a  nobility  whose 
members  intermarry.  This,  for  instance,  was 
the  situation  in  the  Slavic  Territories,  where 
isolated  Wendish  chieftains  were  treated  as 
the  equals  of  the  Germans,  or  in  mediaeval 
Rome,  in  the  case  of  prominent  families  from 
the  Alban  Hills  and  Tuscany. 

In  this  new  "primitive  feudal  state  of  higher 
grade,"  as  we  shall  call  it,  the  ruling  group 
may,  therefore,  disintegrate  into  a  number  of 
more  or  less  powerful  and  privileged  strata. 
The  organization  may  show  many  varieties 
because  of  the  well-known  fact,  that  often  the 
master  group  separates  into  two  subordinated 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     109 

economic  and  social  layers,  developed  as  we 
saw  them  in  the  herdsmen  stage:  the  owners 
of  large  herds  and  of  many  slaves,  and  the  or- 
dinary freemen.  Possibly  the  less  complete 
differentiation  into  social  ranks  in  the  states 
created  by  huntsmen  in  the  new  w^orld,  is  to 
be  assigned  to  the  circumstance  that  in  the 
absence  of  herds,  the  concomitants  of  that 
form  of  ownership,  and  the  original  separation 
into  classes,  were  not  introduced  into  the  state. 
We  shall,  later,  see  what  force  v/as  exerted  on 
the  political  and  economic  development  of 
states  in  the  old  world  by  the  differences  in 
rank  and  property  of  the  two  strata  of  rulers. 
Similarly,  as  in  the  case  of  the  mling  group, 
a  corresponding  process  of  differentiation  di- 
vides the  subject  group  in  the  "primitive  feudal 
state  of  a  higher  grade"  into  various  strata 
more  or  less  despised  and  compelled  to  render 
service.  It  is  only  necessary  to  recall  the  very 
marked  difference  in  the  social  and  jural  posi- 
tion occupied  by  the  peasantry  in  the  Doric 
States,  Lacedasmon  and  Crete,  and  among 
the  Thessalians,  where  the  perioiki  had  clear 


110  THE  STATE 

rights  of  possession  and  fairly  well  protected 
political  rights,  while  the  helots,  in  the  latter 
case  the  penestai,  were  almost  unprotected  in 
life  and  property.  Among  the  old  Saxons  also 
we  find  a  class,  the  liti,  intermediate  between 
the  common  freemen  and  the  serfs.^^  These 
examples  could  be  multiplied ;  apparently  they 
are  caused  by  the  same  tendencies  that  brought 
about  the  differentiation  among  the  nobility 
mentioned  above.  When  two  primitive  feudal 
states  amalgamate,  their  social  layers  stratify 
in  a  variety  of  ways,  which  to  a  certain  extent 
are  comparable  to  the  combinations  resulting 
from  mixing  together  two  packs  of  cards. 

It  is  certain  that  this  mechanical  mixture 
caused  by  political  forces,  influences  the  de- 
velopment of  castes,  that  is  to  say,  of  hereditary 
professions,  which  at  the  same  time  form  a 
hierarchy  of  social  classes.  "Castes  are 
usually,  if  not  always,  consequences  of  con- 
quest and  subjugation  by  foreigners."  ^^  Al- 
though this  problem  has  not  been  completely 
solved,  it  may  be  said  that  the  formation  of 
castes  has  been  very  strongly  influenced  by 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     111 

economic  and  religious  factors.  It  is  prob- 
able that  castes  came  about  in  some  such  way 
as  this:  state-forming  forces  penetrated  into 
existing  economic  organizations,  and  vocations 
underwent  adaptation,  and  then  became  petri- 
fied under  the  influence  of  religious  concepts, 
which,  however,  may  also  have  influenced 
their  original  formation.  This  seems  to  fol- 
low from  the  fact  that  even  as  between  man 
and  woman  there  exist  certain  separations  of 
vocation,  which,  so  to  say,  are  taboo  and  im- 
passable. Thus  among  all  huntsmen,  tilling 
the  ground  is  woman's  work,  while  among 
many  African  shepherds,  as  soon  as  the  ox- 
plow  is  used,  agriculture  becomes  man's 
work,  and  then  women  may  not,  under  pain 
of  sacrilege,  use  the  domestic  cattle.* 

It  is  likely  that  such  religious  concepts  may 
have  brought  it  about  that  a  vocation  became 
hereditary,  and  then  compulsorily  hereditary, 
especially  where  a  tribe  or  a  village  carried  on 

*  Similarly  there  are  North  Asiatic  tribes  of  huntsmen, 
where  women  are  definitely  forbidden  to  touch  the  hunting 
gear  or  to  cross  a  hunting  trail. — Ratzel  I,  page  650. 


112  THE  STATE 

a  particular  craft.  This  happens  with  all 
tribes  in  a  state  of  nature,  where  intercourse 
is  easily  possible,  especially  in  the  case  of 
islanders.  When  some  such  group  has  been 
conquered  by  another  tribe,  the  subjects,  with 
their  developed  hereditary  vocations,  tend  to 
form  within  the  new  state  entity  a  pure 
"caste."  Their  caste  position  depends  jDartly 
upon  the  esteem  they  had  heretofore  enjoyed 
among  their  own  people,  and  partly  upon  the 
advantage  which  their  vocation  affords  their 
new  masters.  If,  as  was  often  the  case,  waves 
of  conquest  followed  one  another  in  series,  the 
formation  of  castes  might  be  multiplied,  espe- 
cially if  in  the  meantime  economic  develop- 
ment had  worked  out  many  vocational  classes. 
This  development  is  probably  best  seen  in 
the  group  of  smiths,  who,  in  nearly  all  cases, 
have  occupied  a  peculiar  position,  half  feared 
and  half  despised.  In  Africa  especially,  since 
the  beginning  of  time,  we  find  tribes  of  expert 
smiths,  as  followers  and  dependents  of  shep- 
herd tribes.  The  Hyksos  brought  such  tribes 
with  them  into  the  Nile  country,  and  perhaps 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     113 

owed  their  decisive  victory  to  arms  made  by 
them;  and  until  recent  times  the  Dinka  kept 
the  iron  working  Djur  in  a  sort  of  subject  re- 
lation. The  same  applied  also  to  the  nomads 
of  the  Sahara;  w^hile  our  northern  sagas  are 
filled  with  the  tribal  contrast  to  the  "dwarfs" 
and  the  fear  of  their  magical  powers.  All  the 
elements  were  at  hand  in  a  developed  state 
for  the  formation  of  sharply  differentiated 
castes.^^ 

How  the  cooperation  of  religious  concepts 
affects  the  beginning  of  these  formations  may 
be  well  illustrated  by  an  example  from  Poly- 
nesia. Here,  "although  many  natives  have 
the  ability  to  do  ship-building,  only  one  privi- 
leged class  may  exercise  the  craft,  so  closely  is 
the  interest  of  the  states  and  the  societies 
bound  up  in  this  art.  All  over  the  archipelago 
formerly,  and  to  this  day  in  Fiji,  the  carpen- 
ters, who  are  almost  exclusively  ship-builders, 
form  a  special  caste,  bear  the  high  sounding 
title  of  'the  king's  workmen,'  and  enjoy  the 
prerogative  of  having  their  own  chieftains. 
.  .  .  Everything  is  done  in  accordance  with 


114  THE  STATE 

ancient  tradition ;  the  laying  the  keel,  the  com- 
pletion of  the  ship,  and  the  launching,  all 
take  place  amidst  religious  ceremonies  and 
feasts."  ^' 

Where  superstition  has  been  strongly  de- 
veloped, a  genuine  system  of  castes  may  come 
about,  based  partly  on  economic  and  partly 
on  ethnic  foundations.  In  Polynesia,  for  ex- 
ample, the  articulation  of  the  classes,  through 
the  operation  of  the  taboo,  has  brought  about 
a  state  of  affairs  very  like  a  most  thorough- 
going caste  system.^^  Similar  results  may  be 
seen  in  Southern  Arabia.^^  It  is  unnecessary 
at  this  place  to  enlarge  on  the  important  place 
which  religion  had  in  the  origin  and  mainte- 
nance of  separate  castes  in  ancient  Egypt  and 
in  modern  India.* 

These  are  the  elements  of  the  primitive 
feudal  state  of  higher  grade.  They  are  more 
manifold  and  more  numerous  than  in  the  lower 

*  Besides,  it  seems  that  the  rigidity  of  the  Indian  caste-sys- 
tem is  not  so  harsh  in  practise.  The  guild  seems  as  often  to 
break  through  the  barriers  of  caste  as  the  converse. — Ratzel 
II,  page  596. 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     115 

primitive  state;  but  in  both,  legal  constitution 
and  political-economic  distributon  are  funda- 
mentally the  same.  The  products  of  the 
economic  means  are  still  the  object  of  the  group 
struggle.  This  remains  now  as  ever  the  mov- 
ing impulse  of  the  domestic  policy  of  the  state, 
while  the  political  means  continues  now  as  ever 
to  constitute  the  moving  impulse  of  its  foreign 
policy  in  attack  or  in  defense.  Identical 
group  theories  continue  to  justify,  both  for 
the  upper  classes  and  the  lower,  the  objects 
and  means  of  external  and  domestic  struggles. 

But  the  development  can  not  remain  sta- 
tionary. Growth  differs  from  mere  increase 
in  bulk;  growth  means  a  constantly  heighten- 
ing differentiation  and  integration. 

The  farther  the  primitive  feudal  state  ex- 
tends its  dominion,  the  more  numerous  its  sub- 
jects, and  the  denser  its  population,  the  more 
there  develops  a  political-economic  division  of 
labor,  which  calls  forth  new  needs  and  new 
means  of  supplying  them;  and  the  more  there 
come  into  sharp  contrasts  the  distinctions  of 


116  THE  STATE" 

economic,  and  consequently  of  social,  class 
strata,  in  accordance  with  what  I  have  called 
the  "law  of  the  agglomeration  about  existing 
nuclei  of  wealth."  This  growing  differentia- 
tion becomes  decisive  for  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  primitive  feudal  state,  and  still 
more  for  its  conclusion. 

This  conclusion  is  not  meant  to  be,  in  any 
sense,  the  physical  end  of  such  a  state.  We 
do  not  mean  the  death  of  a  state,  whereby  such 
a  feudal  state  of  the  higher  type  disappears, 
in  consequence  of  conflict  with  a  more  power- 
ful state,  either  on  the  same  or  on  a  higher 
plane  of  develox^ment,  as  was  the  case  of  the 
Mogul  states  of  India  or  of  Uganda  in  their 
conflicts  with  Great  Britain.  Neither  does  it 
mean  such  a  stagnation  as  that  into  which 
Persia  and  Turkey  have  fallen,  which  repre- 
sents for  a  time  only  a  pause  in  development, 
since  these  countries,  either  of  their  own  force 
or  by  foreign  conquest,  must  soon  be  pushed 
on  the  way  of  their  destiny.  Neither  have  we 
meant  the  rigidity  of  the  gigantic  Chinese  Em- 
pire, which  can  last  only  so  long  as  foreign 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     117 

powers  refrain  from  forcing  its  mysterious 
gates.* 

The  outcome  here  spoken  of  means  the 
further  development  of  the  primitive  feudal 
state,  a  matter  of  importance  to  our  under- 
standing of  universal  history  as  a  inocess. 
The  principal  lines  of  development  into  which 
this  issue  branches  off  are  twofold  and  of 
fundamentally  different  character.  But  this 
polar  opposition  is  conditioned  by  a  like  con- 
tract between  two  sorts  of  economic  wealth 
each  of  which  increases  in  accordance  with  the 
^luw  of  agglomeration  about  emsting  nuclei," 
In  the  one  case,  it  is  movable  property;  in 
the  other,  landed  property.  Here  it  is  the 
capital  of  commerce,  there  property  in  land, 

*  Had  we  the  space,  a  detailed  exposition  of  this  exceptional 
development  of  a  feudal  state  would  be  tempting.  China 
would  be  well  worth  a  more  detailed  discussion,  since,  in  many- 
aspects  it  has  approached  the  condition  of  "free  citizenship" 
more  closely  than  any  people  of  Western  Europe.  China 
has  overcome  the  consequences  of  the  feudal  system  more  thor- 
oughly than  we  Europeans  have;  and  has  made,  early  in  its 
development,  the  great  property  interests  in  the  land  harm- 
less, so  th^t  their  bastard  offspring,  capitalism,  hardly  came 
into  being;, while  in  addition,  it  has  worked  out  to  a  consid- 
erable degree  the  problems  of  cooperative  production  and  of 
cooperative   distribution. 


118  THE  STATE 

accumulating  in  the  hands  of  a  smaller  and 
smaller  number,  and  thereby  overturning  radi- 
cally the  articulation  of  classes,  and  with  it  the 
whole  State. 

The  maritime  State  is  the  scene  of  the  de- 
velopment of  movable  wealth;  the  territorial 
State  is  the  embodiment  of  the  development  of 
landed  property.  The  final  issue  of  the  first 
is  capitalistic  eccploitation  by  slavery,  the  out- 
come of  the  latter  is,  first  of  all,  the  developed 
feudal  State, 

Capitalistic  exploitation  by  slavery,  the 
typical  result  of  the  development  of  the  so- 
called  "antique  States"  on  the  Mediterranean, 
does  not  end  in  the  death  of  states,  which  is  of 
no  importance,  but  in  the  death  of  peoples,  be- 
cause of  the  consumption  of  population.  In 
the  pedigree  of  the  historical  development  of 
the  State,  it  forms  a  side  branch,  from  which 
no  further  immediate  growth  can  take  place. 

The  developed  feudal  State,  however,  repre- 
sents the  principal  branch,  the  continuation  of 
the  trunk;  and  is  therefore  the  origin  for  the 


PRIMITIVE  FEUDAL  STATE     119 

further  growth  of  the  State.  Thence  it  has 
developed  mto  the  State  governed  hy  feudal 
systems ;  into  absolutism ;  into  the  modern  con- 
stitutional State;  and  if  we  are  right  in  our 
prognosis,  it  will  become  a  "free  citizenship." 

So  long  as  the  trunk  grew  only  in  one  di- 
rection, i.  e.,  to  include  the  primitive  feudal 
State  of  higher  grade,  our  sketch  of  its  growth 
and  development  could  and  did  comprise  both 
forms.  Henceforth,  after  the  bifurcation, 
our  story  branches  and  follows  each  branch  to 
its  last  twig. 

We  begin,  then,  with  the  maritime  states, 
although  they  are  not  the  older  form.  On 
the  contrary,  as  far  back  as  the  dawn  of  liis- 
tory  clears  the  fog  of  prehistoric  existence, 
the  first  strong  states  w^ere  formed  as  terri- 
torial states,  which  then,  by  their  own  powers, 
attained  the  scale  of  developed  feudal  States. 
But  beyond  this  stage,  at  least  as  regards  those 
States  most  interesting  to  our  culture,  most  of 
them  either  remained  stationary  or  fell  into 
the  power  of  maritime  states;  and  then,  in- 


120  THE  STATE 

fected  with  the  deadly  poison  of  capitalistic 
exploitation  through  slavery,  were  destroyed 
by  the  same  plague. 

The  further  progress  of  the  expanded  feudal 
states  of  higher  grade  could  take  place  only 
after  the  maritime  states  had  run  their  course : 
mighty  forms  of  domination  and  statescraft 
these  became,  and  they  subsequently  influenced 
and  furthered  the  conformation  of  the  terri- 
torial states  that  grew  from  their  ruins. 

For  that  reason  the  story  of  the  fate  of  mari- 
time states  must  be  first  traced,  as  these  are 
the  introduction  to  the  higher  forms  of  state 
life.  After  first  tracing  the  lateral  branch, 
we  shall  then  return  to  the  starting  point,  the 
primitive  feudal  State,  follow  the  main  trunk 
to  the  development  of  the  modern  constitu- 
tional State,  and  anticipating  actual  history, 
sketch  the  "free  citizenship"  of  the  future. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  MARITIME  STATE 

The  course  of  life  and  the  path  of  suffering 
of  the  State  founded  by  sea  nomadsj  as  has 
been  stated  above,  is  determined  by  com- 
mercial capital;  just  as  that  of  the  territorial 
State  is  determined  by  capital  vested  in  realty; 
and,  we  may  add,  that  of  the  modern  consti- 
tutional State  by  productive  capital.  The 
sea  nomad,  however,  did  not  invent  trade  or 
merchandising,  fairs  or  markets  or  cities ;  these 
preexisted,  and  since  they  served  his  purpose, 
were  now  developed  to  suit  his  interests.  All 
these  institutions,  serving  the  economic  means, 
the  barter  for  equivalents,  had  long  since  been 
discovered. 

Here  for  the  first  time  in  our  survey  we  find 
the  economic  means  not  the  object  of  exploita- 
tion by  the  political  means,  but  as  a  cooperating 
agent   in   originating  the    State,   one  might 

121 


122  THE  STATE 

call  it  the  "chain"  passing  into  the  "lift" 
created  by  the  feudal  state  to  bring  forth  a 
more  elaborate  structure.  The  genesis  of  the 
maritime  State  would  not  be  thoroughly  in- 
telligible, were  we  not  to  premise  a  statement 
concerning  traffic  and  interchange  of  wares  in 
prehistoric  times.  Furthermore,  no  prognosis 
of  the  modern  state  is  complete,  which  does 
not  take  into  account  the  independently 
formed  economic  means  of  aboriginal  barter. 

(a)   TRAFFIC  IlSr  PREHISTORIC  TIMES 

The  psychological  explanation  of  barter  has 
brought  forth  the  theory  of  the  marginal  util- 
ity, its  greatest  merit.  According  to  this 
theory,  the  subjective  valuation  of  any  eco- 
nomic good  decreases  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  objects  of  the  same  kind  possessed  by  the 
same  owner.  When  even  two  ^proprietors  meet, 
each  having  a  number  of  similar  articles,  they 
will  gladly  barter,  provided  political  means  are 
barred,  i.  e.,  if  both  parts  are  apparently 
equally  strong  and  well-armed,  or  in  the  very 
early  stage,  are  within  the  sacred  circle  of  re- 


MARITIME  STATE  123 

lationship.  By  barter,  each  one  receives  prop- 
erty of  very  high  subjective  value,  in  place  of 
property  of  very  low  subjective  value,  so  that 
both  parties  are  gainers  in  the  transaction. 
The  desire  of  primitive  people  for  bartering 
must  be  stronger  than  that  of  cultured  ones. 
For  at  this  stage  man  does  not  value  his  own 
goods,  but  covets  the  things  belonging  to 
strangers,  and  is  hardly  affected  by  calculated 
economic  considerations. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  must  not  forget  that 
there  are  primitive  peoples  for  whom  barter 
has  no  attraction  w^hatever.  ''Cook  tells  of 
tribes  in  Polynesia,  with  whom  no  intercourse 
was  possible,  since  presents  made  absolutely 
no  impression  on  them,  and  were  afterward 
thrown  away;  everything  shown  them  they  re- 
garded with  indifference,  and  with  no  desire 
to  own  it,  while  wdth  their  own  things  they 
would  not  part ;  in  fact,  they  had  no  conception 
of  either  trade  or  barter."  ^^  So  Westermarck 
is  of  the  opinion  that  "barter  and  traffic  are 
comparatively  late  inventions."  In  this  he 
stands  in  opposition  to  Peschel,  who  would 


124  THE  STATE 

have  it  that  man  in  the  earhest  known  stage 
of  development  engaged  in  barter.  Wester- 
marck  states  that  there  is  no  proof  "that  the 
cave-dwellers  of  Perigord  from  the  reindeer 
period  obtained  their  rock-crystals,  their  shells 
from  the  Atlantic,  and  the  horns  of  the  Saiga 
antelope  from  (modern)  Poland  by  way  of 
barter."  ^^ 

In  spite  of  these  excej)tions,  which  admit 
other  explanations — perhaps  the  natives  feared 
sorcery — the  history  of  primitive  peoples  shows 
that  the  desire  to  trade  and  barter  is  a  uni- 
versal human  characteristic.  It  can,  however, 
take  effect  only  when  these  primitive  men  on 
meeting  with  strangers  are  offered  new  en- 
ticing objects,  since  in  the  immediate  circle  of 
their  own  blood  kinsmen  everj^  one  has  the 
same  kinds  of  property,  and  in  their  natural 
communism,  on  the  average  about  the  same 
amount. 

Yet  even  then,  barter,  the  beginning  of  all 
regular  trading,  can  take  place  only  when  the 
meeting  with  foreigners  is  a  peaceable  one. 
But  is  there  any  possibility  for  peaceable  meet- 


MARITIME  STATE  125 

ing  with  foreigners?  Is  not  primitive  man, 
through  his  entire  life,  and  especially  at  the 
period  when  barter  begins,  still  under  the  ap- 
prehension that  every  one  of  a  different  horde 
is  an  enemy  to  be  feared  as  the  wolf? 

After  trade  is  developed,  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
strongly  influenced  by  the  '^political  means," 
"trade  generally  follows  robbery."  ^^  But  its 
first  beginnings  are  chiefly  the  result  of  the 
economic  means,  the  outcome  of  pacific,  not 
warlike,  intercourse. 

The  international  relations  of  primitive 
huntsmen  with  one  another  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  those  existing  either  between  the 
huntsmen  or  herdsmen  and  their  peasants,  or 
amongst  the  herdsmen  themselves.  There 
are,  undoubtedly,  blood-feuds,  or  feuds  be- 
cause of  looted  women,  or  possibly  because  of 
violation  of  the  districts  set  aside  for  hunting 
grounds;  but  these  lack  that  strong  incentive, 
which  is  the  consequence  of  avarice  alone,  of 
the  desire  to  despoil  other  men  of  the  products 
of  their  labor.  Therefore,  the  *Svars"  of  prim- 
itive huntsmen  are   scarcely  real  wars,   but 


126  THE  STATE 

rather  scuffles  and  single  combats,  carried  on 
frequently — as  are  the  German  student  duels 
— according  to  an  established  ceremonial,  and 
prolonged  only  up  to  the  point  of  incapacity  to 
fight,  as  one  might  say,  "until  claret  has  been 
drawn."  ^^  These  tribes,  numerical^  very 
weak,  wisely  limit  bloodshed  to  the  indispensa- 
ble amount — e.  g.,  in  case  of  a  blood  vendetta 
feud — and  thus  avoid  starting  new  vendetta 
blood  feuds. 

For  this  reason,  pacific  relations  with  their 
neighbors  on  an  equal  economic  scale  are  much 
stronger,  and  also  freer  from  the  incentive  to 
use  political  means,  both  among  huntsmen  and 
among  primitive  peasants,  than  among  herds- 
men. There  are  numerous  examples  where 
the  former  meet  peaceably  to  exploit  natural 
resources  in  common.  * 'While  yet  in  primi- 
tive stages  of  civilization,  great  masses  of 
people  gather  together,  from  time  to  time,  at 
places  where  useful  objects  maj^  be  found. 
The  Indians  of  a  large  part  of  America  made 
regular  pilgi'images  to  the  flint  grounds; 
others  assembled  annually  at  harvest  time  at 


MARITIME  STATE  127 

the  Zizania  swamps  of  the  lakes  of  the  North- 
west. The  Australians,  living  scattered  in  the 
Barku  district,  assemble  from  all  directions  for 
the  harvest  festivals  at  the  swamp  beds  of 
the  corn  bearing  JNIarsiliacae.  When  the 
bonga-bonga  trees  in  Queensland  produce  a 
superabundant  crop,  and  a  greater  store  is  on 
hand  than  the  tribe  can  consume,  foreign  tribes 
are  permitted  to  share  therein."  ^"  "Various 
tribes  agree  on  the  conmion  ownership  of  defi- 
nite strips  of  territorj^  and  likewise  of  the 
quarries  of  phonolite  for  hatchets."  ^*  Nu- 
merous Australian  tribes  have  common  con- 
sultations and  sessions  of  the  elders  for  judg- 
ment. In  these,  the  remainder  of  the  popula- 
tion form  the  bystanders,  a  custom  similar  to 
the  Germanic  "Umstand"  in  the  primitive  folk- 
moot.^^ 

It  is  but  natural  that  such  meetings  should 
bring  about  barter.  Perhaps  this  explains  the 
origin  of  those  "weekly  fairs  held  by  the  Ne- 
groes of  Central  Africa  in  the  midst  of  the 
primseval  forest  under  special  arrangements 
for  the  peace'' ^^'  and  likewise  the  great  fairs, 


128  THE  STATE 

said  to  be  very  ancient,  of  the  fur  hunters  of 
the  extreme  north  of  the  Tschuktsche. 

All  these  things  presuppose  the  development 
of  pacific  forms  of  intercourse  between  neigh- 
boring groups.  These  forms  are  to  be  found 
almost  universally.  They  could  very  easily  be 
developed  at  this  period,  since  the  discovery 
had  not  yet  been  made  that  men  can  be  utilized 
as  labor  motors.  At  this  stage,  the  stranger  is 
treated  as  an  enemy  only  in  doubtful  cases. 
If  he  comes  with  apparently  peaceable  intent, 
he  is  treated  as  a  friend.  Therefore,  a  whole 
code  of  public  law  ceremonies  grew  up,  in- 
tended to  demonstrate  the  pacific  intent  of  the 
newcomer.*  One  puts  aside  one's  arms  and 
shows  one's  unarmed  hand,  or  one  sends  her- 
alds in  advance,  who  are  alwaj^s  inviolable. 

It  is  clear  that  these  forms  represent  some 
kind  of  claim  to  hospitality,  and  in  fact  it  is  by 
this  guest-right  that  peaceful  trade  is  first 

*  In  this  category  must  be  reckoned  the  salutation,  still 
in  use  in  some  parts,  "Peace  Be  With  You."  It  is  expressive 
of  the  perversity  of  Tolstoi's  later  years  that  he  misappre- 
hends this  characteristic  mark  of  a  time  when  war  was  the 
normal  state  of  affairs,  as  the  remnant  of  a  golden  age  of 
peace.  The  Importance  of  the  Riissiaii  Revolution  (German 
translation  by  A.  Hess,  p.  17). 


MARITIME  STATE  129 

made  possible.  The  exchange  of  guest-gifts 
precedes,  and  appears  to  introduce,  barter 
proper.  It  becomes,  therefore,  important  to 
investigate  the  source  of  hospitahty. 

Westermarck,  in  his  recent  monumental 
work  (1907),  Origin  and  Development  of 
Moral  Concepts^^  states  that  the  custom  of 
hospitality  results  from  two  causes,  curiosity 
for  news  from  the  stranger  from  afar,  and  still 
more  from  the  fear  that  the  stranger  may  be 
endowed  with  powers  of  sorcery,  imputed  to 
him  just  because  he  is  a  stranger.*  In  the 
Bible,  hospitality  is  recommended  for  the  rea- 
son that  one  can  not  know  that  the  stranger 
may  not  be  an  angel.  The  superstitious  race 
fears  his  curse  (the  Erinys  of  the  Greeks) 
and  hastens  to  propitiate  the  stranger.  Hav- 
ing been  accepted  as  a  guest  he  is  inviola- 
ble and  enjoys  the  sacred  right  of  the  blood- 
related  group,  and  is  regarded  as  belonging  to 

*This  may  account  for  the  use  made  of  old  women  as 
heralds.  They  are  doubly  available  for  that  purpose,  since 
they  are  worthless  for  warfare,  and  are  supposed  to  be  en- 
dowed with  specific  powers  of  sorcery  (Westermarck),  even 
more  than  old  men,  who  also  are  treated  cautiously,  since  they 
may  soon  become  "ghosts." 


130  THE  STATE 

it  during  his  stay.  Therefore  he  partakes  of 
the  benefits  of  the  aboriginal  communism 
reigning  in  the  group,  and  shares  its  property. 
The  host  demands  and  receives  whatever  he 
claims,  the  stranger  obtains  in  turn  what  he 
asks  for.  When  the  peaceable  intercourse  be- 
comes more  frequent,  the  mutual  giving  of 
guest-presents  may  develop  into  a  trading 
arrangement,  because  the  trader  gladly  re- 
turns to  the  spot  where  he  found  good  enter- 
tainment and  a  profitable  exchange  and  where 
he  is  protected  by  the  laws  of  hospitality,  in- 
stead of  seeking  new  places,  where,  often  with 
danger  to  his  life,  he  would  first  have  to  acquire 
the  right  to  hospitality. 

The  existence  of  an  "internationar'  division 
of  labor  is,  of  course,  presupposed  before  the 
development  of  a  regular  trade  relation  can 
begin.  Such  a  division  of  labor  exists  much 
earlier  and  to  a  greater  extent  than  is  gen- 
erally believed.  "It  is  quite  erroneous  to  sup- 
pose that  the  division  of  labor  takes  place  only 
on  a  high  scale  of  economic  development. 
There  are  in  the  interior  of  Africa  villages  of 


MARITIME  STATE  131 

iron-smiths,  nay,  of  such  as  only  turn  out  dart- 
knives ;  New  Guinea  has  its  villages  of  potters, 
North  America  its  arrow-head  makers."  ^^ 
From  such  specialties  there  develops  trade, 
whether  through  roving  merchants,  or  by  gifts 
to  one's  hosts,  or  by  peace-gifts  from  tribe  to 
tribe.  In  North  America,  the  Kaddu  trade 
in  bows.  ^'Obsidian  was  universally  employed 
for  arrow  heads  and  knives;  on  the  Yellow- 
stone, on  the  Snake  River,  in  New  Mexico,  but 
especially  in  Mexico.  Thence  the  precious 
article  was  distributed  all  over  the  entire 
country  as  far  as  Ohio  and  Tennessee,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  two  thousand  miles."  ^^ 

According  to  Vierkandt:  "From  the 
purely  home-made  products  of  primitive  j)eo- 
ples,  there  results  a  system  of  trade  totally 
distinct  from  that  prevailing  under  modern 
conditions.  .  .  .  Each  separate  tribe  has  de- 
veloped special  aptitudes,  leading  to  interex- 
change.  Even  among  the  comparatively  un- 
civilized Indian  tribes  of  South  America,  we 
find  such  differentiations.  .  .  .  By  such  a 
trade,  products  may  be  distributed  over  extra- 


132  THE  STATE 

ordinary  distances,  not  in  any  direct  way 
through  professional  traders,  but  through  a 
gradual  passing  along  from  tribe  to  tribe. 
The  origin  of  such  a  trade,  as  Buecher  has 
shown,  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the  exchange  of 
guest-gifts."  '^^ 

Besides  this  exchange  of  guest-gifts,  a  trade 
may  grow  from  the  peace  offerings  which  ad- 
versaries after  a  fight  exchange  as  a  sign  of 
reconciliation.  Sartorius  reports  on  Poly- 
nesia: *'After  a  war  between  different 
islands,  the  peace  offerings  for  each  group 
were  something  novel;  and  if  the  present  and 
return  present  pleased  both  parties,  a  repeti- 
tion took  place,  and  thus  again  the  way  for 
exchange  of  products  was  opened.  But,  these, 
in  contrast  to  guest-gifts,  were  the  bases  of 
continuing  intercourse.  Here,  in  place  of  the 
contact  of  individuals,  tribes  and  peoples  met. 
Women  are  the  first  object  of  barter;  they 
form  the  connecting  link  between  strange 
tribes,  and  according  to  evidence  from  many 
sources,  women  are  exchanged  for  cattle."  "'" 

We  meet  here  an  object  of  trade,  exchange- 


MARITIME  STATE  133 

able  even  without  "international  division  of 
labor."  And  it  appears  as  though  the  CcV- 
cliange  of  women  had,  in  many  ways,  smoothed 
the  way  for  the  traffic  in  merchandise,  as 
though  it  had  been  the  &st  step  toward  the 
2)eaceahle  integration  of  tribes,  which  accom- 
panied the  warlike  integration  of  the  formation 
of  the  State.  Lippert,  however,  believes  that 
the  peaceful  exchange  of  fire  antedates  this 
barter/^  Conceding  that  this  custom  is  very 
ancient,  he  can  nevertheless  trace  it  only  from 
rudiments  of  observances  and  of  law ;  and  since 
proof  is  no  longer  accessible,  we  shall  not  pur- 
sue the  question  further  in  this  place. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  exchange  of  women 
is  observed  universally,  and  doubtless  exerts  an 
extraordinarily  strong  influence  in  the  de- 
velopment of  peaceable  intercourse  between 
neighboring  tribes,  and  in  the  preparation  for 
barter  of  merchandise.  The  story  of  the  Sa- 
bine women,  who  threw  themselves  between 
their  brothers  and  their  husbands,  as  these  were 
about  to  engage  in  battle,  must  have  been  an 
actuality  in  a  thousand  instances  in  the  course 


134  THE  STATE 

of  the  development  of  the  human  race.  All 
over  the  world,  the  marriage  of  near  relatives 
is  considered  an  outrage,  as  "incest,"  for 
reasons  not  within  the  scope  of  this  bookJ* 
This  directs  the  sexual  longing  toward  the 
women  of  neighboring  tribes,  and  thus  makes 
the  loot  of  women  a  jDart  of  the  primary  inter- 
tribal relations ;  and  in  nearly  all  cases,  unless 
strong  feelings  of  race  counteract  it,  the  violent 
carrying  off  of  women  is  gradually  commuted 
to  barter  and  purchase,  the  custom  resulting 
from  the  relative  undesirability  of  the  women 
of  one's  own  blood  in  comparison  to  the  wives 
to  be  had  from  other  tribes. 

Where  division  of  labor  made  at  all  possible 
the  exchange  of  goods,  the  relations  among  the 
various  tribes  would  thereafter  be  made  serv- 
iceable to  it;  the  exogamic  groups  gradually 
become  accustomed  regularly  to  meet  on  a 
peaceful  basis.  The  peace,  originally  protect- 
ing the  horde  of  blood  relations,  thereafter 
comes  to  be  extended  over  a  wider  circle.  One 
example  from  numberless  instances:  "Each 
of  the  two  Camerun  tribes  has  its  own  'bush 


MARITIME  STATE  135 

countries,'  places  where  its  own  tribesmen 
trade,  and  where,  by  intermarriage,  they  have 
relatives.  Here  also  exogamy  shows  its  tribe- 
linking  power." 

These  are  the  prmcipal  lines  of  growth  of 
peaceful  barter  and  traffic;  from  the  right  to 
hospitality  and  the  exchange  of  women,  per- 
hsLps  also  from  the  exchange  of  fire,  to  the 
trade  in  commodities.  In  addition  to  this, 
markets  and  fairs,  and  perhaps  also  traders, 
were  almost  uniformly  regarded  as  being  under 
the  protection  of  a  god  who  preserved  peace 
and  avenged  its  violation.  Thus  we  have 
brought  the  fundamentals  of  this  most  impor- 
tant sociological  factor  to  the  point  where  the 
political  means  enters  as  a  cause  to  disturb,  re- 
arrange, and  then  to  develop  and  aif  ect  the 
creations  of  the  economic  means. 

(b)    TRziDE    AND    THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE 

There  are  two  very  important  reasons  why 
the  robber-warrior  should  not  unduly  interfere 
with  such  markets  and  fairs  as  he  may  find 
wdthin  his  conquered  domain. 


136  THE  STATE 

The  first,  which  is  extra-economic,  is  the 
superstitious  fear  that  the  godhead  will  avenge 
a  breach  of  the  peace.  The  second,  which  is 
economic,  and  probably  is  the  more  important 
— and  I  think  I  am  the  first  to  point  out  this 
connection — is  that  the  conquerors  can  not  well 
do  without  the  markets. 

The  booty  of  the  primitive  victors  consists 
of  much  property  which  is  unavailable  for  their 
immediate  use  and  consumption.  Since  valu- 
able articles  at  that  period  exist  in  but  few 
forms,  while  these  few  occur  in  large  quantity, 
the  "marginal  utility"  of  any  one  kind  is  held 
very  low.  This  applies  especially  to  the  most 
important  product  of  the  political  means, 
slaves.  Let  us  first  take  up  the  case  of  the 
herdsman:  his  need  of  slaves  is  limited  by  the 
size  of  his  herds ;  he  is  very  likely  to  exchange 
his  surplus  for  other  objects  of  gixater  value  to 
him:  for  salt,  ornaments,  arms,  metals,  woven 
materials,  utensils,  etc.  For  that  reason,  the 
herdsman  is  not  only  at  all  times  a  robber,  al- 
ways in  addition  he  is  a  merchant  and  trader 
and  he  protects  trade. 


MARITIME  STATE  137 

He  protects  trade  coming  his  way  in  order 
to  exchange  his  loot  against  the  products  of 
another  civihzation — from  the  earhest  times, 
nomads  have  convoyed  the  caravans  passing 
through  their  steppes  or  deserts  in  considera- 
tion of  protection  money — but  he  also  protects 
trade  even  in  places  conquered  by  him  in  pre- 
historic times.  Quite  the  same  sort  of  consid- 
eration which  influenced  the  herdsmen  to 
change  from  bear  stage  to  bee-keeper  stage, 
must  have  influenced  them  to  maintain  and 
protect  ancient  markets  and  fairs.  One 
single  looting,  in  this  case,  would  mean  killing 
the  hen  that  lays  the  golden  eggs.  It  is  more 
profitable  to  preserve  the  market  and  rather  to 
extend  the  prevailing  peace  over  it,  since  there 
is  not  only  the  profit  to  be  had  from  an  ex- 
change of  foreign  wares  against  loot,  but  also 
the  protection  money,  the  lords'  toll,  to  be  col- 
lected. For  that  reason  princes  of  feudal 
states  of  every  stage  of  development  extended 
over  markets,  highways  and  merchants,  their 
especial  protection,  the  ''king's  peace,"  often 
indeed  reserving  to  themselves  the  monopoly 


138  THE  STATE 

of  foreign  trade.  Everpvhere  we  see  them 
busily  engaged  in  calling  into  being  new  fail's 
and  cities  by  the  grant  of  protection  and  im- 
munity. 

This  interest  in  the  system  of  fairs  and  mar- 
kets makes  it  thoroughly  credible  that  tribes 
of  herdsmen  respected  existing  market  places 
in  their  sphere  of  influence  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  suspended  the  exertion  of  the  politi- 
cal means  so  completely  as  not  even  to  exer- 
cise "dominion"  over  tJiem.  The  story  told  by 
Herodotus  is  inherently  probable,  though  he 
was  astonished  that  the  Argippjeans  had  a 
sacred  market  amidst  the  lawless  Scythian 
herdsmen,  and  that  their  unarmed  inhabitants 
were  effectively  protected  through  the  hal- 
lowed peace  of  their  market  place.  JNIany  sim- 
ilar phenomena  make  this  the  more  easily  be- 
lievable. 

"No  one  dare  harm  them,  since  they  are  con- 
sidered holy;  and  yet  they  have  no  arms;  but  it 
is  they  who  allay  the  quarrels  of  their  neigh- 
bors, and  whoever  has  escaped  to  them  as  a 


MARITIME  STATE  139 

runaway  may  not  be  touched  "by  any  other 
man."  ^^  Similar  instances  are  found  fre- 
quently: "It  is  always  the  same  story  of  the 
Argippa3ans,  the  story  of  the  *holy,'  'unarmed,' 
*just,'  bartering,  and  strife-settling  tribelet  in 
the  midst  of  a  Bedouin-like,  nomadic  popula- 
tion." '"^  Ciere  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of 
a  higher  type.  Strabo  says  of  its  inhabitants : 
*'The  Greeks  thought  highly  of  their  bravery 
and  justice,  because  although  powerful  in  a 
great  degree,  they  abstained  from  robbery." 
Mommsen,  who  quotes  this  passage,  adds: 
"This  does  not  exclude  piracy,  which  was  en- 
gaged in  by  the  merchants  of  Ca?re  as  well  as 
by  all  other  merchants,  but  rather  that  Caere 
was  a  sort  of  free  harbor  for  the  Phoenicians  as 
for  the  Greeks." '" 

Csere  is  not  like  the  fair  of  the  Argippseans, 
a  market  place  in  the  interior  of  a  district  of 
land  nomads,  but  is  in  the  midst  of  a  domain  of 
sea  nomads,  a  port  endowed  with  its  own  peace. 
This  is  one  of  those  typical  formations  whose 
importance,  in  my  estimation,  has  not  been  ap- 


140  THE  STATE 

predated  at  its  real  value.  They  have,  it 
seems  to  me,  exercised  a  mighty  influence  on 
the  genesis  of  maritime  states. 

Those  reasons  by  which  we  saw  the  land  no- 
mads forced  to  preserve,  if  not  to  create, 
market  places,  must  with  even  more  intensity, 
have  coerced  the  sea  nomads  to  similar  de- 
meanor. For  the  transportation  of  loot,  espe- 
cially of  herds  and  of  slaves,  is  difficult  and 
dangerous  on  the  trails  across  the  desert  or  the 
steppes:  the  slow  progress  invites  pursuit. 
But  with  war-canoe  and  ''dragon-ship"  this 
transportation  is  easy  and  safe.  For  that  rea- 
son, the  Viking  is  even  much  more  a  trader 
and  merchant  than  is  the  herdsman.  As  is 
said  in  Faust,  "War,  Commerce,  and  Piracy 
are  inseparable." 

(c)    THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  MARITIME  STATE 

In  many  cases,  I  believe,  trade  in  the  loot  of 
piracy  is  the  origin  of  those  cities  around  which, 
as  political  centers,  the  city-states  of  the  an- 
tique or  Mediterranean  civilization  grew  up; 
while  in  very  many  other  cases,  the  same  trade 


MARITIME  STATE  141 

cooperated  to  bring  them  to  the  same  pomt  of 
political  development. 

These  harbor  markets  developed  from  prob- 
ably two  general  types :  they  grew  up  either  as 
piratical  fortresses  directly  and  intentionally 
placed  in  hostile  territory,  or  else  as  "merchant 
colonies"  based  on  treaty  rights  in  the  harbors 
of  foreign  primitive  or  developed  feudal  states. 

Of  the  first  tyj^e,  we  have  a  number  of  im- 
portant examples  from  ancient  history  which 
correspond  exactly  to  the  fourth  stage  of  our 
scheme,  where  an  armed  colony  of  pirates 
plants  itself  down  at  a  commercially  and  stra- 
tegically defendable  point  on  the  seacoast  of  a 
foreign  state.  The  most  notable  instance  is 
Carthage;  and  in  like  manner,  the  Greek  sea 
nomads,  lonians,  Dorians  and  Achseans,  set- 
tled in  their  sea  castles  on  the  Adriatic  and 
Tyrrhenian  coasts  of  Southern  Italy,  on  the 
islands  of  these  seas,  and  on  the  gulfs  of  South- 
ern Gaul.     Phoenicians,  Etruscans,*  Greeks, 

*  Whether  the  Etruscans  were  immigrants  into  Italj^  by  land 
who  took  up  piracy  after  having  made  war  successfully  on 
land,  or  whether  as  sea  nomads  they  had  already  settled  the 


142  THE  STATE 

and  according  to  modern  investigation,  Cari- 
ans,  all  about  the  INIediterranean,  founded  their 
"States"  after  the  same  type,  with  identical 
class  division  into  masters  and  servile  peas- 
antry of  the  neighboring  territory/^ 

Some  of  these  states  on  the  coast  developed 
into  feudal  states  of  the  type  of  the  territorial 
states;  and  the  master  class  then  became  a 
landed  aristocracy.  The  factors  in  this  change 
were:  first,  geographical  conditions,  lack  of 
good  harbors,  and  a  wide  stretch  of  Jdnterlaiid 
cultivated  by  peaceful  peasants ;  and  secondly, 
very  probably,  the  acquired  organization  into 
classes  taken  with  them  from  their  original 
homes.  In  many  cases,  they  were  fugitive 
nobles,  the  vanquished  of  domestic  feuds,  or 
younger  sons,  sometimes  an  entire  generation 
of  youth  of  both  sexes,  who  thus  started  "on 
the  viking,"  and  having  at  home  had  lands  and 
serfs,  as  petty  lords,  they  again  sought  in  for- 
eign lands  what  they  regarded  as  their  due. 
The  occupation  of  England  by  the  Anglo- 
country  along  the  sea  named  after  them,  has  not  been  deter- 
mined. 


MARITIME  STATE  143 

Saxons,  and  of  Southern  Italy  by  the  Nor- 
mans, are  examples  of  this  method;  so  too  are 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonizations  of 
Mexico  and  of  South  America.  The  Achaean 
colonies  of  Greater  Greece  in  Southern  Italy 
furnish  additional  and  very  important  in- 
stances of  this  development  of  territorial  feu- 
dal states  by  sea  nomads:  "This  Achaean 
League  of  cities  was  a  true  colonization.  The 
cities  were  without  harbors — Croton  only  had 
a  fair  roadstead — and  tvere  without  any  trade 
of  their  own;  the  Sybarite  could  boast  of  his 
growing  gi'ay  in  his  water  town  between  his 
home  bridges,  while  buying  and  selling  were 
carried  on  by  Milesians  and  Etruscans.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Greeks  in  this  region  not 
only  controlled  the  frhige  of  the  shore,  but 
ruled  from  sea  to  sea ;  .  .  .  the  native  agricul- 
tural inhabitants  were  forced  into  a  relation  of 
clientage  or  serfdom,  and  were  required  to 
work  the  farms  of  their  masters  or  to  pay  trib- 
ute to  them."  ^^  It  is  probable  that  most  of 
the  Doric  colonies  in  Crete  were  similarly  or- 
ganized. 


144  THE  STATE 

But  in  the  course  of  universal  history  these 
^'territorial  states,"  whether  they  arose  more 
or  less  frequently,  did  not  acquire  any  such 
importance  as  did  those  maritime  cities  which 
devoted  their  principal  energies  to  commerce 
and  to  privateering.  Mommsen  contrasts  in 
distinct  and  well  chosen  sentences  the  Achaean 
landed  squire  with  the  ''royal  merchants"  of 
the  Greek  Colonies  in  Southern  Italy:  "In 
no  way  did  they  spurn  agriculture  or  the  in- 
crease of  territory;  the  Greeks  were  not  satis- 
fied, at  least  not  after  they  became  powerful,  to 
remain  within  the  confined  space  of  a  fortified 
commercial  factory  in  the  midst  of  the  country 
of  the  barbarians,  as  the  Phoenicians  had  done. 
Their  cities  were  founded  primarily  and  ex- 
clusively for  purposes  of  trade,  and  unlike  the 
Achaean  colonies,  were  universally  situated  at 
the  best  harbors  and  landing  places."  ^^  We 
are  certain,  in  the  case  of  the  Ionic  colonies, 
and  may  well  assume  it  for  the  other  cases,  that 
the  founders  of  these  cities  were  not  landed 
squires,  but  seafaring  merchants.     ♦ 

But  such  maritime  states  or  cities,  in  the 


MARITIME  STATE  145 

strict  sense,  came  into  being  not  only  through 
warlike  conquest,  but  also  through  peaceable 
beginnings,  by  a  more  or  less  mixed  'penetra- 
tion pacifiqne. 

WTiere,  however,  the  Vikings  did  not  meet 
peaceable  i)easants,  but  feudal  states  in  the 
primitive  stage,  willing  to  fight,  they  offered 
and  accepted  terms  of  peace  and  settled  down 
as  colonies  of  merchants. 

We  know  of  such  cases  from  every  part  of 
the  world,  in  harbors  and  on  markets  held  on 
shore.  To  take  the  instances  with  which  Ger- 
mans are  most  conversant,  there  are  the  settle- 
ments of  North  German  merchants  in 
countries  along  the  German  ocean  and  the 
Baltic  Sea,  the  German  Steel  Yard  in  London, 
the  Hansa  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  on  the 
Island  of  Schonen,  and  in  Russia,  at  Novgo- 
rod. In  Wilna,  the  capital  of  the  Grand 
Dukes  of  Lithuania,  there  was  such  a  colony; 
and  the  Fondaco  dei  Tedeschi  in  Venice  is  an- 
other example  of  a  similar  institution.  The 
strangers  in  nearly  every  instance  settle  down 
as  a  compact  mass,  subject  to  their  own  laws 


146  THE  STATE 

and  their  own  jurisdiction.  They  often  ac- 
quire great  political  influence,  sometimes  ex- 
tending to  dominion  over  the  state.  One 
would  think  the  following  tale  of  Ratzel,  con- 
cerning the  coast  and  islands  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  were  a  contemporaneous  narrative  of 
the  Phoenician  or  Greek  invasion  of  the  Med- 
iterranean at  about  1,000  B.  C:  *'Whole  na- 
tions have,  so  to  say,  been  liquefied  by  trade, 
esjjeciallj^  the  proverbially  clever,  zealous,  om- 
nipresent Malays  of  Sumatra;  as  well  as  the 
treacherous  Bugi  of  Celebes.  These  can  be 
met  with  at  every  place  from  Singapore  to 
New  Guinea.  Latterly,  especially  in  Borneo, 
they  have  immigrated  in  masses  on  the  call  of 
the  Borneo  chieftains.  Their  influence  was  so 
strong  that  they  were  permitted  to  govern 
themselves  according  to  their  own  laws,  and 
they  felt  themselves  so  strong  that  repeatedly 
they  attempted  to  achieve  independence.  The 
Achinese  formerly  occupied  a  similar  position. 
Malacca  had  been  made  the  principal  mart  by 
ISIalays  from  Sumatra,  and  after  its  decline, 
Achin  became  the  most  frequented  harbor  of 


MARITIME  STATE  147 

this  distant  east,  especially  for  the  first  quarter 
of  the  seventeenth  centiu'y,  the  pivotal  period 
of  the  development  of  that  corner  of  the 
world."  ^^  The  following,  from  among  num- 
berless instances,  demonstrate  the  universality 
of  this  fonii  of  settlement:  "In  Urga,  where 
tliey  politically  dominate,  the  merchants  are 
crowded  together  into  a  separate  Chinese 
Town."  ^^  In  the  Jewish  States  there  were 
* 'small  colonies  of  foreign  merchants  and  me- 
chanics, set  apart  in  distinct  quarters  of  the 
cities.  Here,  under  the  king's  protection,  they 
could  live  according  to  their  own  religious  cus- 
toms." ^^  We  may  also  compare  with  this. 
First  Kings  XX,  34.  "King  Omri  of  Ephraim 
was  forced  by  the  military  success  of  his  oppo- 
nent, the  King  of  Damascus,  to  grant  to  the 
Aramaic  merchants  the  use  of  certain  parts  of 
the  city  of  Samaria,  where  under  royal  protec- 
tion they  could  trade.  Later,  when  the  turn  of 
war  favored  his  successor,  Ahab,  the  latter  de- 
manded the  same  privilege  for  the  Ephraimitic 
merchants  in  Damascus."  ^^  "The  inhabitants 
of  Italy,  wherever  they  were,  held  together  as 


148  THE  STATE 

solid  and  organized  masses,  the  soldiers  as  le- 
gionaries, the  merchants  of  all  large  cities  as 
corporations ;  while  the  Roman  citizens  domi- 
ciled or  dwelling  in  the  various  provincial  cir- 
cnitSj  were  organized  as  a  ^convention  of 
Roman  citizens'  with  their  own  communal  gov- 
ernment." ^^  We  may  recall  the  mediaeval 
Ghettos,  which,  before  the  great  persecution  of 
the  Jews  in  the  JMiddle  Ages,  were  similar 
merchant  colonies.  The  settlements  of  Euro- 
peans in  the  ports  of  strong  foreign  empires 
at  the  present  time  show  similar  corporate  or- 
ganizations, having  their  own  constitution  and 
^consular)  jurisdiction.  China,  Turkey  and 
Morocco  must  continue  to  bear  this  mark  of 
inferiority,  while  recently  Japan  has  been  able 
to  rid  herself  of  that  badge. 

The  most  interesting  point  about  these  col- 
onies, at  least  for  our  study,  consists  in  their 
general  tendency  to  extend  their  political 
influence  into  complete  domination.  And 
there  is  good  reason  for  this.  Merchants  have 
a  mass  of  movable  wealth,  which  is  likely  to  be 
used  as  a  decisive  factor  in  the  political  up- 


MARITIME  STATE  149 

heavals  constantly  disturbing  all  feudal  states, 
be  it  in  international  wars  between  two  neigh- 
boring states,  or  in  intra-national  fights,  such 
as  wars  of  succession.  In  addition  to  this 
the  colonists,  in  many  cases,  may  rely  on 
the  power  of  their  home  state,  basing  their 
claim  on  ties  of  blood  and  on  uncommonly 
strong  commercial  interests;  while  there  is 
besides,  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  they 
have  in  their  warlike  sailor-folk  and  their  nu- 
merous slaves  an  effective  and  compact  force 
of  their  own,  caj)able  of  accomplishing  much 
in  a  limited  sphere. 

The  following  story  of  the  role  played  by 
Arab  merchants  in  East  Africa  appears  to  me 
to  show  a  historical  type  heretofore  not  suffi- 
ciently appreciated:  "When  Speke,  as  the 
first  Euroi)ean,  made  this  trip  in  1857,  the 
Arabs  were  merchants,  living  as  aliens  in  the 
land.  When  in  1861  he  passed  the  same  way, 
the  Arabs  resembled  great  landed  proprietors 
with  rich  estates  and  were  waging  war  with 
the  native  territorial  ruler.  This  process,  re- 
peatedly found  in  many  other  regions  in  the 


150  THE  STATE 

interior  of  Africa,  is  the  necessary  consequence 
of  the  balance  of  power.  The  foreign  mer- 
chants, be  they  Arabs  or  Suaheli,  ask  the  privi- 
lege of  transit  and  pay  tribute  for  it;  they 
establish  warehouses,  which  the  chiefs  favor, 
as  these  seem  both  to  satisfy  their  vanity  and 
to  extend  their  connections ;  then  incurring  the 
suspicion,  oppression  and  persecution  of  the 
chiefs,  the  merchants  refuse  to  pay  the  rack 
tolls  and  dues,  which  have  grown  with  their 
increased  prosperity.  At  last,  in  one  of  the 
inevitable  fights  for  the  succession,  the  Arabs 
take  the  side  of  one  pretender  if  he  is  pliable 
enough,  and  are  thus  brought  into  internal 
quarrels  of  the  country  and  take  part  in  the 
often  endless  wars."  ^^ 

This  political  activity  of  the  merchant  deni- 
zens (metoikoi)  is  a  constantly  recurring  type. 
*'In  Borneo  there  developed  from  the  settle- 
ments of  Chinese  gold  diggers  separate 
states."  ^^  Properly  speaking,  the  entire  his- 
tory of  colonization  by  Europeans  is  a  series 
of  examples  of  the  law  that,  with  any  superior 
force,  the  factories  and  larger  settlements  of 


MARITIME  STATE  151 

foreigners  tend  to  grow  into  domination,  unless 
they  approximate  to  the  j)rimal  type  of  simple 
piracy,  such  as  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
conquests,  or  the  East  India  Companies,  both 
the  English  and  the  Dutch.  "There  lies  a 
robber  state  beside  the  ocean,  between  the 
Rhine  and  the  Scheldt,"  are  the  accusing  words 
of  the  Dutch  Multatuli.  All  East  Asiatic, 
American  and  African  colonies  of  all  Euro- 
pean peoples  arose  as  one  or  the  other  of  these 
two  tyj)es. 

But  the  aliens  do  not  always  obtain  uncon- 
ditional mastery.  Sometimes  the  host  state 
is  too  strong,  and  the  newcomers  remain  politi- 
cally powerless  but  protected  aliens;  as,  for 
example,  the  Germans  in  England.  Some- 
times the  host  state,  although  subjugated,  be- 
comes strong  enough  to  shake  off  the  foreign 
domination;  so,  for  instance,  Sweden  drove  out 
the  Hanseats  w^ho  had  imposed  on  her  their 
sovereignty.  In  some  cases,  a  conqueror  over- 
comes both  merchants  and  host  state,  and 
subjugates  both;  as  happened  to  the  republics 
of  Novgorod  and  Pskov,  when  the  Russians 


152  THE  STATE 

annexed  them.  In  many  cases,  however,  the 
rich  foreigners  and  the  domestic  nobiUty  amal- 
gamate into  one  group  of  rulers,  following  the 
type  of  the  formation  of  territorial  states,  in 
which  we  saw  this  take  place  whenever  two 
about  equally  strong  groups  of  rulers  came 
into  conflict.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  last 
named  situation  is  the  most  probable  assump- 
tion for  the  genesis  of  the  most  imj)ortant  city 
states  of  antiquit}^  for  the  Greek  maritime 
cities,  and  for  Rome. 

Of  Greek  history,  to  use  the  terms  of  Kurt 
Breysig,  we  know  only  the  "Middle  Ages," 
of  Roman  history,  only  its  "Modern  Times." 
For  the  matters  that  preceded,  we  must  be 
extremely  careful  in  drawing  deductions  from 
fancied  analogies.  But  it  seems  to  me  that 
enough  facts  are  proved  and  admitted  to  per- 
mit the  conclusion  that  Athens,  Corinth, 
Mycense,  Rome,  etc.,  became  states  in  the  man- 
ner already  set  forth.  And  this  would  follow, 
even  if  the  data  from  all  known  demography 
and  general  history  were  not  of  such  universal 
validity  as  to  permit  the  conclusion  in  itself. 


MARITIME  STATE  153 

We  know  accurately  from  the  names  of 
places  (Salamis:  Island  of  Peace,  equivalent 
to  Market-Island),  from  the  names  of  heroes, 
from  monuments,  and  from  immediate  tradi- 
tion, that  in  many  Greek  harbors  there  existed 
Phoenician  factories,  while  the  hinterland  was 
occupied  by  small  feudal  states  with  the  typ- 
ical articulation  of  nobles,  common  freemen, 
and  slaves.  It  can  not  seriously  be  disputed 
that  the  development  of  the  city  states  w^as 
powerfully  advanced  by  foreign  influences; 
and  this  is  true,  though  no  specific  evidence  can 
be  adduced  to  show  that  any  of  the  Phoenician, 
or  of  the  still  more  powerful  Carian  merchants 
were  either  allowed  to  intermarry  Avith  the 
families  of  the  resident  nobility,  or  were  made 
full  citizens,  or  finally  even  became  princes. 

The  same  applies  to  Rome,  concerning  which 
JMommsen,  a  cautious  author,  states:  "Rome 
owes  its  importance,  if  not  its  origin,  to  these 
commercial  and  strategic  relations.  Evidence 
of  this  is  found  in  many  traces  of  far  greater 
value  than  the  tales  of  historical  novels  pre- 
tending to  be  authentic.     Take  an  instance  of 


154  THE  STATE 

the  primgeval  relations  existing  between  Rome 
and  Ceere,  which  was  for  Etruria  what  Rome 
was  for  Latium,  and  thereafter  was  its  nearest 
neighbor  and  commercial  friend ;  or  the  uncom- 
mon importance  attributed  to  the  bridge  over 
Tiber  and  the  bridge  building  (Pontifex  Maxi- 
mus)  in  every  part  of  the  Roman  State;  or 
the  galley  in  the  municipal  coat  of  arms.  To 
this  source  may  be  traced  the  primitive  Roman 
harbor  dues  to  which,  from  earty  times,  only 
those  goods  were  subject  which  were  intended 
for  sale  {promercale)  and  not  what  entered 
the  harbor  of  Ostia,  for  the  proper  use  of  the 
charterer  {iisuarium) ,  and  which  constituted 
therefore  an  impost  on  trade.  For  that  reason 
we  find  the  comparatively  early  use  of  minted 
money,  and  the  commercial  treaties  of  states 
oversea  with  Rome.  In  this  sense,  then, 
Rome  maj^  as  the  story  of  its  origin  states, 
have  been  rather  a  created  than  a  developed 
city,  and  among  the  Latin  cities  rather  the 
youngest  than  the  eldest."  ^^ 

It  would  require  the  work  of  a  lifetime  of 
historical  research  to  investigate  these  possi- 


MARITIME  STATE  155 

bilities,  or  rather  these  probabiUties ;  and  then 
to  write  the  constitutional  history  of  these  pre- 
eminently important  city  states,  and  to  draw 
thence  the  very  necessary  conclusions.  It 
seems  to  me  that  along  this  path  there  would 
be  found  much  information  on  many  an 
obscure  question,  such  as  the  Etruscan  do- 
minion in  Rome,  or  the  origin  of  the  rich  fami- 
lies of  Plebeians,  or  concerning  the  Athenian 
metoikoi,  and  many  other  problems. 

Here  we  can  only  follow  the  thread  which 
holds  out  the  hope  of  leading  us  through  the 
labyrinth  of  historical  tradition  to  the  issue. 

(d)     ESSENCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    THE    MAEITIME 
STATES 

All  these  are  true  ''States"  in  the  sociologic 
sense,  whether  they  arose  from  the  fortresses 
of  sea-robbers,  or  from  harbors  of  original  land 
nomads  as  merchant  colonies  which  obtained 
dominion  or  which  amalgamated  with  the  dom- 
inating group  of  the  host  people.  For  they 
are  nothing  but  the  organization  of  the  politi- 
cal means,  their  form  is  domination,  their  con- 


156  THE  STATE 

tent  the  economic  exploitation  of  the  subject 
by  the  master  group. 

So  far  as  the  principle  is  concerned,  they 
are  not  to  be  differentiated  from  the  States 
founded  by  land  nomads;  and  yet  they  have 
taken  a  different  form,  both  from  internal  and 
external  reasons,  and  show  a  different  psy- 
chology of  classes. 

One  must  not  believe  that  class  feeling  was 
at  all  different  in  these  and  in  the  territorial 
states.  Here  as  there  the  master  class  looks 
down  with  the  same  contempt  on  the  subjects, 
on  the  ''Rantuses/'  on  the  "man  with  the  blue 
fingernails,"  as  the  German  patrician  in  the 
Middle  Ages  looked  on  a  being  with  whom, 
even  when  free  born,  no  intermarriage  or 
social  intercom'se  was  permitted.  Little  in- 
deed does  the  class  theory  of  the  xa/.o- 
xdyadoi  (well-born)  or  of  the  patricians 
(children  of  ancestors)  differ  from  that  of  the 
country  squires.  But  other  circumstances 
here  bring  about  differences,  consonant, 
naturally,  with  class  interests.  In  any  district 
ruled  by  merchants,  highway  robbery  can  not 


MARITIME  STATE  157 

be  tolerated,  and  therefore  it  is  considered,  e. 
g.,  among  the  maritime  Greeks,  a  vulgar 
crime.  The  tale  of  Theseus  would  not  in  a 
territorial  state  have  been  pointed  against 
the  highwaymen.  On  the  other  hand,  "piracy 
was  regarded  by  them,  in  most  remote  times,  as 
a  trade  nowise  dishonorable  ...  of  which 
ample  proof  may  be  found  in  the  Homeric 
poems ;  while  at  a  much  later  period  Polycrates 
had  organized  a  well  developed  robber-state 
on  the  Island  of  Samos."  "In  the  Corpus 
Juris,  mention  is  made  of  a  law  of  Solon  in 
which  the  association  of  pirates  (i;r^  Xelav  oi^d/ieuoe) 
is  recognized  as  a  permissible  company."  ^° 
But  quite  apart  from  such  details,  men- 
tioned only  because  they  serve  to  cast  a  clear 
light  on  the  growth  of  the  "ideologic  super- 
structure," *  the  basic  conditions  of  existence 
of  maritime  states,  utterly  different  from  those 
of  territorial  states,  called  into  being  two  ex- 
ceedingly important  phenomena,  which  are  of 

*  How  characteristic  of  these  relations  it  is  that  Great 
Britain,  the  only  "maritime  state"  of  Europe,  even  at  this 
present  day  will  not  surrender  the  right  to  arm  privateers. 


158  THE  STATE 

universal  historical  imj)ortance,  viz.,  the 
growth  of  a  democratic  constitution,  whereby 
the  gigantic  contest  between  the  sultanism  of 
the  Orient  and  the  civic  freedom  of  the  West 
was  to  be  fought  out  (according  to  JNIommsen 
the  true  content  of  universal  history) ;  and  in 
the  second  place  the  development  of  capital- 
istic slave-work^  which  in  the  end  was  to  anni- 
hilate all  these  states. 

Let  us  first  consider  the  inner  or  socio-psy- 
chological  causes  of  this  contrast  between  the 
territorial  and  the  maritime  state. 

States  are  maintained  bj^  the  same  principle 
from  which  they  arise.  Conquest  of  land  and 
populations  is  the  ratio  essendi  of  a  territorial 
state;  and  by  the  repeated  conquest  of  lands 
and  populations  it  must  grow,  until  its  natural 
growth  is  checked  by  mountain  ranges,  desert, 
or  ocean,  or  its  sociological  bounds  are  de- 
termined by  contact  with  other  states  of  its 
own  kind,  which  it  can  not  subjugate.  The 
maritime  state,  on  the  other  hand,  came  into 
being  from  piracy  and  trade;  and  through 
these  two  means,  it  must  strive  to  extend  its 


MARITI]ME  STATE  159 

power.  For  this  purpose,  no  extended  terri- 
tory need  be  absolutely  subjected  to  its  sway. 
There  is  no  need  to  carry  its  development  be- 
yond the  first  five  stages.  The  maritime  states 
rarely,  and  only  when  conii^elled,  proceed  be- 
yond the  fifth  stage,  and  attain  to  complete 
intra-nationality  and  amalgamation.  Usually, 
it  is  enough  if  other  sea  nomads  and  traders 
are  kept  away,  if  the  monopoly  of  robbery  and 
trade  is  secured,  and  if  the  ''subjects"  are  kept 
quiet  by  forts  and  garrisons.  Important 
places  of  production  are,  of  course,  actually 
"dominated";  and  this  apj)lies  especially  to 
mines,  to  a  few  fertile  grain  belts,  to  woods 
with  good  lumber,  to  salt  works,  and  to  im- 
portant fisheries.  Domination  here,  there- 
fore, means  permanent  administration,  by 
making  the  subjects  work  these  for  the  ruling 
class.  It  is  only  later  in  the  development,  that 
there  arises  a  taste  for  "lands  and  serfs"  and 
large  domains  for  the  rululg  class  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  narrow  and  onginal  limits  of 
the  State.  This  happens  when  the  maritime 
state  by  the  incorporation  of  subjugated  terri- 


160  THE  STATE 

tories  has  become  a  mixture  of  the  territorial 
and  the  maritime  forms.  But  even  in  that  case, 
and  in  contradistinction  to  territorial  states, 
large  landed  properties  are  merely  a  source 
of  money  rentals,  and  are  in  nearly  all  cases 
administered  as  absentee-property.  This  we 
find  in  Carthage  and  in  the  later  Roman  Em- 
pire. 

The  interests  of  the  master  class,  which  in 
the  maritime  state  as  well  as  in  every  other 
state,  governs  according  to  its  own  advantage, 
are  different  from  those  in  the  territorial  state. 
In  the  latter  the  feudal  territorial  magnate  is 
powerful  because  of  his  ownership  of  lands  and 
people;  while  conversely,  the  patrician  of  the 
maritime  city  is  powerful  because  of  his  wealth. 
The  territorial  magnate  can  dominate  his 
* 'State"  only  by  the  number  of  men-at-arms 
maintained  by  him,  and  in  order  to  have  as 
many  of  these  as  possible,  he  must  increase  his 
territory  as  much  as  possible.  The  patrician, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  control  his  *'state"  only 
by  movable  wealth,  with  which  he  can  hire 
strong  arms  or  bribe  weak  souls;  such  wealth 


MARITIME  STATE  161 

is  won  faster  by  piracy  and  by  trade  than  by 
land  wars  and  the  possession  of  large  estates 
in  distant  territories.  Furthermore,  in  order 
thoroughly  to  use  such  property,  he  would  be 
obliged  to  leave  his  city  to  settle  down  on  it, 
and  to  become  a  regular  squire;  because  in  a 
period  when  money  has  not  yet  become  gen- 
eral, where  a  profitable  division  of  labor  be- 
tween towTi  and  country  has  not  yet  come 
about,  the  exploitation  of  large  estates  can 
only  be  carried  on  by  actually  consuming  their 
products,  and  absentee  ownership  as  a  source 
of  income  is  inconceivable.  Thus  far,  how- 
ever, we  have  not  reached  that  portion  of  the 
development.  We  are  still  examining  primi- 
tive conditions.  Xo  patrician  of  any  city  state 
would,  at  this  time,  think  of  leaving  his  lively 
rich  home,  in  order  to  bury  himself  among  bar- 
barians, and  thus  with  one  move  cut  himself 
off  in  his  state  from  any  political  role.  All  his 
economic,  social  and  political  interests  impel 
him  with  one  accord  toward  maritime  ventures. 
Not  landed  property,  but  movable  capital,  is 
the  sinew  of  his  life. 


162  THE  STATE 

These  were  the  moving  causes  of  the  actions 
of  the  master  class  in  the  maritime  cities;  and 
even  where  geographical  conditions  permitted 
an  extensive  expansion  beyond  the  adjoining 
hinterland  of  these  cities,  they  turned  the 
weight  of  effort  toward  sea-power  rather  than 
toward  territorial  growth.  Even  in  the  case 
of  Carthage,  its  colossal  territory  was  of  far 
less  importance  to  it  than  its  maritime  in- 
terests. Primarily  it  conquered  Sicily  and 
Corsica  more  in  order  to  check  the  competition 
of  the  Greek  and  Etruscan  traders  than  for 
the  sake  of  owning  these  islands;  it  extended 
its  territories  toward  the  Lybians  largely  to 
insure  the  security  of  its  other  home  posses- 
sions ;  and  finally,  when  it  conquered  Spain,  its 
ultimate  reason  was  the  need  of  o^vning  the 
mines.  The  history  of  the  Hansa  shows  many 
points  of  similarity  to  the  above.  The  major- 
ity of  these  maritime  cities,  moreover,  were  not 
capable  of  subjugating  a  large  district.  Even 
had  there  been  the  will  to  conquer,  there  were 
extraneous,  geographical  conditions  that  hin- 
dered.    All  along  the  Mediterranean,  with  the 


MARITIME  STATE  163 

exception  of  some  few  places,  the  coastal  plain 
is  extremely  narrow,  a  small  strip  fenced  off 
by  high  mountain  ranges.  That  was  one 
cause  which  prevented  most  of  the  states 
grouped  about  some  trading  harbor  from  grow- 
ing to  anything  like  the  size  we  should  nat- 
urally assume  to  be  probable;  while  in  the 
open  country,  ruled  by  herdsmen,  and  this  very 
early,  immense  realms  came  into  being.  The 
second  cause  for  the  small  beginnings  of  these 
states  is  found  in  this,  that  the  hinterland 
whether  in  the  hills  or  on  the  few  plains  of  the 
Mediterranean  was  occupied  by  warlike  tribes. 
These  tribesmen,  either  hunters  or  warlike 
herdsmen,  or  else  primitive  feudal  states  of  the 
same  master  race  as  the  sea  nomads,  were  not 
likely  to  be  subjugated  without  a  severe  con- 
test. Thus  in  Greece  the  interior  was  saved 
from  the  maritime  states. 

For  these  reasons  the  maritime  State,  even 
when  most  developed,  ahvays  remains  central- 
ized, one  is  tempted  to  say  centered,  on  its 
trading  harbor;  w^hile  the  territorial  State, 
strongly  decentralized  from  the  start,  for  a 


164  THE  STATE 

long  time  continues  to  develop  as  it  expands 
a  still  more  pronounced  decentralization. 
Later,  we  shall  see  how  this  is  affected  by  the 
adoption  of  those  forms  of  government  and  of 
economic  achievement  which  first  were  per- 
fected in  the  "city-state,"  and  which  thus 
obtained  the  strength  to  counteract  the  centrif- 
ugal forces,  and  to  build  up  the  central  organ- 
ization which  is  characteristic  of  our  modern 
states.  This  is  the  first  great  contrast  between 
the  two  forms  of  the  State. 

ISTo  less  decisive  is  the  second  i^oint  of  con- 
trast, whereby  the  territorial  State  remains 
tied  up  to  natural  economies  as  opposed  to 
money  economies,  toward  which  the  maritime 
State  quickly  turns.  This  contrast  grows 
also  out  of  the  basic  conditions  of  their  ex- 
istence. 

Wherever  a  State  lives  in  natural  economy, 
money  is  a  superfluous  luxury — so  superfluous 
that  an  economy  developed  to  the  use  of  money 
retrogrades  again  into  a  system  of  pajmients 
in  kind  as  soon  as  the  community  drops  back 
into  the  primitive  form.     Thus  after  Charle- 


MARITIME  STATE  165 

magne  had  issued  good  coins,  the  economic 
situation  expelled  them.  Neustria — not  to 
mention  Austrasia — under  the  stress  of  the 
migration  of  the  peoples  reverted  to  payment  in 
kind.  Such  a  system  can  well  do  without 
money  as  a  standard  of  values,  since  it  is  with- 
out any  developed  intercourse  and  traffic.  The 
lord's  tenants  furnish  as  tribute  those  things 
that  the  lord  and  his  followers  consume  imme- 
diately ;  while  his  ornaments,  fine  fabrics,  dam- 
ascened arms,  or  rare  horses,  salt,  etc.,  are 
procured  in  exchange  with  wandering  mer- 
chants for  slaves,  wax,  furs  and  other  products 
of  a  warlike  economic  system  of  exchange  in 
kind. 

In  city  life,  at  any  advanced  stage  of  de- 
velopment, it  is  impossible  to  exist  without  a 
common  measure  of  values.  The  free  me- 
chanic in  a  city  can  not,  except  in  rare  cases, 
find  some  other  craftsman  in  need  of  the  spe- 
cial thing  which  he  produces,  prepared  to  con- 
sume it  immediately.  Then,  too,  in  cities 
the  inevitable  retail  trade  in  food  products, 
where  every  one  must  purchase  nearly  every- 


166  THE  STATE 

thing  required,  makes  the  use  of  coined 
money  quite  inevitable.  It  is  impossible 
to  conduct  trade  in  its  more  limited  sense, 
not  between  merchant  and  customers,  but 
between  merchant  and  merchant,  without  hav- 
ing a  common  measure  of  value.  Imagine 
the  case  of  a  trader  entering  a  port  with  a 
cargo  of  slaves,  wishing  to  take  cloth  as  a  re- 
turn cargo,  and  finding  a  cloth  merchant  who 
at  the  time  may  not  want  slaves  but  iron,  or 
cattle,  or  furs.  To  accomplish  this  exchange, 
at  least  a  dozen  intermediate  trades  would 
have  to  take  place  before  the  object  could  be 
achieved.  That  can  be  avoided  only  if  there 
exists  some  one  commodity  desired  by  all.  In 
the  system  of  payment  in  kind  of  the  terri- 
torial states  this  may  be  taken  by  cattle  or 
horses,  since  they  may  be  used  by  any  one  at 
some  time;  but  the  ship  owner  can  not  load 
with  cattle  as  a  means  of  payment,  and 
thus  gold  and  silver  become  recognized  as 
"money." 

From  centralization  and  from  the  use  of 
money,  which  are  the  necessary  properties  of 


MARITIME  STATE  167 

the  maritime  or  the  city  State,  as  we  shall  here- 
after call  it,  its  fate  follows  of  necessity. 

The  psychology  of  the  townsman,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  dweller  in  the  maritime  com- 
mercial city,  is  radically  diiferent  from  that 
of  the  countryman.  His  point  of  view  is  freer 
and  more  inclusive,  even  though  it  be  more 
superficial ;  he  is  livelier,  because  more  impres- 
sions strike  him  in  a  day  than  a  peasant  in  a 
year.  He  becomes  used  to  constant  changes 
and  news,  and  thus  is  always  novarum  rerum 
cupidus.  He  is  more  remote  from  nature  and 
less  dependent  on  it  than  is  the  peasant,  and 
therefore  he  has  less  fear  of  "ghosts."  One 
consequence  of  this  is  that  an  underling  in  a 
city  State  is  less  apt  to  regard  the  "taboo"  reg- 
ulations imposed  on  him  by  the  first  and  second 
estates  of  rulers.  And  as  he  is  compelled  to 
live  in  compact  masses  with  his  fellow  subjects, 
he  early  finds  his  strength  in  numbers,  so  that 
he  becomes  more  unruly  and  seditious  than  the 
serf  who  lives  in  such  isolation  that  he  never 
becomes  conscious  of  the  mass  to  which  he  be- 
longs and  ever  remains  under  the  impression 


168  THE  STATE 

that  his  overlord  with  his  followers  would  have 
the  upper  hand  in  every  fight. 

This  in  itself  brings  about  an  ever  progres- 
sive dissolution  of  the  rigid  system  of  subordi- 
nated groups  first  created  by  the  feudal  state. 
In  Greece  the  territorial  states  alone  were  able 
to  keep  their  subjects  for  a  long  time  in  a  state 
of  subjection:  Sparta  its  Helots,  Thessaly  its 
Penestce.  In  all  the  city  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  early  find  an  uprising  of  the  prole- 
tariat against  which  the  master  class  was  un- 
able to  oppose  an  eflE  ective  resistance. 

The  economic  situation  tends  toward  the 
same  result  as  the  conditions  of  settlement. 
Movable  wealth  had  far  less  stability  than 
landed  property:  the  sea  is  tricky,  and  the  for- 
tunes of  maritime  war  and  piracy  not  less  so. 
The  rich  man  of  to-day  may  lose  all  by  a  turn 
of  Fortune's  wheel;  while  the  poorest  man 
may,  by  the  same  swing,  land  on  top.  But  in 
a  commonwealth  based  entirely  on  possessions, 
loss  of  fortune  brings  with  it  loss  of  rank  and 
of  "class,"  just  as  the  converse  takes  place. 
The  rich  Plebeian  becomes  the  leader  of  the 


MARITIME  STATE  169 

mass  of  the  people  in  their  constitutional  fight 
for  equal  rights  and  places  all  his  fortune  at 
risk  in  that  struggle.  The  position  of  the  pa- 
tricians becomes  untenable ;  when  coerced  they 
have  ever  conceded  the  claims  of  the  lower 
class.  As  soon  as  the  first  rich  Plebeian  has 
been  taken  into  their  ranks,  the  right  of  rule 
by  birth,  defended  as  a  holy  institution,  has  for- 
ever become  impossible.  Henceforth  it  fol- 
lows that  what  is  fair  for  one  is  fair  for  the 
other ;  and  the  aristocratic  rule  is  followed  first 
by  the  plutocratic,  then  by  the  democratic, 
finally  by  the  ochlocratic  regime,  until  either 
foreign  conquest  or  the  "tyranny"  of  some 
"Savior  of  the  Sword"  rescues  the  community 
from  chaos. 

This  end  affects  not  only  the  State,  but  in 
most  cases  its  inhabitants  so  profoundly  that 
one  may  speak  of  a  literal  death  of  the  peoples, 
caused  by  the  capitalistic  exploitation  of  slave 
labor.  This  latter  is  a  social  institution  inevi- 
tably bound  to  exist  in  every  state  founded  on 
piracy  and  maritime  ventures  and  thus  coming 
to  use  money  as  a  means  of  exchange.     In  the 


170  THE  STATE 

primitive  stages  of  feudalism,  whence  it  was 
derived,  slavery  was  harmless,  as  is  true  in  all 
economic  systems  based  on  exchange  and  use 
in  kind,  only  to  become  an  ulcerating  cancer, 
utterly  destructive  of  the  entire  life  of  the 
State  as  soon  as  it  is  exploited  by  the  "capi- 
talist" method,  i.  e.,  as  soon  as  slave  labor  is 
applied,  not  to  be  used  in  a  system  of  a  feudal 
payment  in  kind,  but  to  supply  a  market  pay- 
ing in  money. 

Numberless  slaves  are  brought  into  the 
country  by  i)iracy,  privateering,  or  by  the  com- 
mercial wars.  The  wealth  of  their  owners  per- 
mits them  to  work  the  ground  more  intensively, 
and  the  owners  of  realty  within  the  confines 
of  the  city  limits  draw  ever  increasing  revenues 
from  their  possessions,  and  become  more  and 
more  greedy  of  land.  The  small  freeholder  in 
the  country,  overburdened  by  the  taxes  and 
military  service  of  wars  waged  in  the  interests 
of  this  great  merchant  class,  sinks  into  debt, 
becomes  a  slave  for  debt,  or  migrates  into  the 
city  as  a  pauper.  But  even  so  there  is  no  hope 
for  him,  since  the  removal  of  the  j)easants  has 


MARITIME  STATE  171 

damaged  the  craftsmen  and  small  traders,  for 
the  peasants  were  wont  to  purchase  in  the  city, 
while  the  great  estates,  constantly  increasing 
by  the  removal  of  the  peasantry,  supply  their 
own  needs  by  their  own  slave  products.  The 
evil  attacks  other  parts  of  the  body  politic. 
The  remaining  trades  are  gradually  usurped 
by  masters  exploiting  slave  labor,  which  is 
cheaper  than  free  labor.  The  middle  class 
thus  goes  to  pieces;  and  a  pauper,  good-for- 
nothing  mob,  a  genuine  "bob-tail  proletariat" 
comes  into  being,  which,  by  reason  of  the  dem- 
ocratic constituton  achieved  in  the  interim,  is 
the  sovereign  of  the  commonwealth.  The  full 
course,  political  as  well  as  military,  is  then  a 
mere  question  of  time.  It  may  take  place 
without  a  foreign  invasion;  which,  however, 
usually  sets  in,  when  by  reason  of  the  physical 
breakdown  caused  by  the  immense  depopula- 
tion, by  the  consumption  of  the  people  in  its 
literal  sense,  the  final  stage  is  attained.  This 
is  the  end  of  all  these  states.  Within  the  scope 
of  this  treatise  we  can  not  dilate  on  this  phase. 
Only  one  city  State  was  able  to  maintain  it- 


172  THE  STATE 

self  througliout  the  centuries,  because  it  was 
the  ultimate  conqueror  of  all  the  others,  and 
because  it  was  enabled  to  counteract  the  con- 
sumption of  population  by  the  only  method  of 
sanitation  possible ;  by  extensive  recreations  of 
middle  class  populations,  both  in  cities  and  in 
country  districts,  as  well  as  by  vast  coloniza- 
tions of  peasants  on  lands  taken  from  the 
vanquished. 

The  Roman  Empire  was  that  state.  But 
even  this  gigantic  organism  finally  succumbed 
to  the  consumption  of  population,  caused  by 
capitalistic  slave  exploitation.  In  the  interval, 
however,  it  had  created  the  first  imperium,  i.  e., 
the  first  tensely  centralized  state  on  a  large 
scale,  and  had  overcome  and  amalgamated  all 
territorial  states  of  both  the  Mediterranean 
shores  and  its  neighboring  countries,  and  had 
thereby  for  all  time  set  before  the  world  the 
model  of  such  an  organized  dominion.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  it  had  developed  the  organization 
of  cities  and  of  the  system  of  money  economy 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  never  were  utterly 
destroyed,  even  in  the  turmoil  of  the  barbarian 


MARITIME  STATE  173 

migration.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  feudal 
territorial  states  that  occupied  the  territory  of 
the  former  Roman  Empire  either  directly  or 
indirectly  received  those  new  impulses  which 
were  to  carry  them  beyond  the  condition  of  the 
normal  primitive  feudal  State. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FEUDAL  STATE 
(a)    THE  GENESIS  OF  LANDED  PROrERTY 

We  now  return,  as  stated  above,  to  that 
point  where  the  primitive  feudal  State  gave 
rise  to  the  city  State  as  an  offshoot,  to  follow 
the  upward  growth  of  the  main  branch.  As 
the  destiny  of  the  city  State  was  determined  by 
the  agglomeration  of  that  form  of  wealth  about 
which  the  State  swung  in  its  orbit,  so  the  fate 
of  the  territorial  State  is  conditioned  by  that 
agglomeration  of  wealth  which  in  turn  controls 
its  orbit,  the  ownership  of  landed  property. 

In  the  preceding,  we  followed  the  economic 
differentiation  in  the  case  of  the  shepherd 
tribes,  and  showed  that  even  here  the  law  of  the 
agglomeration  about  existing  nuclei  of  wealth 
begins  to  assert  its  efficacy,  as  soon  as  the  polit- 
ical means  comes  into  play,  be  it  in  the  form 

174 


FEUDAL  STATE  175 

of  wars  for  booty  or  still  more  in  the  form  of 
slavery.  We  saw  that  the  tribe  had  differen- 
tiated nobles  and  common  freemen,  beneath 
whom  slaves,  being  without  any  political 
rights,  are  subordinated  as  a  third  class. 
This  differentiation  of  wealth  is  introduced 
into  the  primitive  state,  and  sharpens  very 
markedly  the  contrast  of  social  rank.  It  be- 
comes still  more  accentuated  by  settlement, 
whereby  private  ownership  in  lands  is  created. 
Doubtless  there  existed  even  at  the  time  when 
the  primitive  feudal  state  came  into  being, 
great  differences  in  the  amount  of  lands  pos- 
sessed by  individuals,  especially  if  within  the 
tribe  of  herdsmen  the  separation  had  been 
strongly  marked  between  the  prince-like 
o^\iiers  of  large  herds  and  many  slaves,  and  the 
poorer  common  freemen.  These  princes 
occupy  more  land  than  do  the  small  freemen. 
At  first,  this  happens  quite  harmlessly,  and 
without  a  trace  of  any  consciousness  of  the  fact 
that  extended  possession  of  land  will  become 
the  means  of  a  considerable  increase  of  social 
power  and  of  wealth.     Of  this,  there  is  at  this 


176  THE  STATE 

time  no  question,  since  at  this  stage  the  com- 
mon freemen  would  have  been  powerful 
enough  to  prevent  the  formation  of  extended 
landed  estates  had  they  known  that  it  would 
eventually  do  them  harm.  But  no  one  could 
have  foreseen  this  possibility.  Lands,  in  the 
condition  in  which  we  are  observing  them,  have 
no  value.  For  that  reason  the  object  and  the 
spoils  of  the  contest  were  not  the  possession  of 
lands,  but  of  the  land  and  its  peasants,  the  lat- 
ter being  bound  to  the  soil  (glebce  adscripti  of 
our  later  law)  as  labor  substrat  and  labor  mo- 
tors, from  the  conjunction  of  which  there 
grows  the  object  of  the  political  means,  viz., 
ground  rent. 

Every  one  is  at  liberty  to  take  as  much  of 
the  uncidtivated  land  existing  in  masses  as  he 
needs  and  will  or  can  cultivate.  It  is  quite  as 
unlikely  that  any  one  would  care  to  measure 
off  for  another  parts  of  an  apparently  limitless 
supply,  as  that  any  one  would  apportion  the 
supply  of  atmospheric  air. 

The  princes  of  the  noble  clans,  probably 
from  the  start,  pursuant  to  the  usage  of  the 


FEUDAL  STATE  177 

tribe  of  herdsmen,  receive  more  "lands  and 
peasants"  than  do  the  common  freemen.  That 
is  their  right  as  princes,  because  of  their  posi- 
tion as  patriarchs,  war  lords,  and  captains 
maintaining  their  warlike  suites  of  half-free 
persons,  of  servants,  of  clients,  or  of  refugees. 
This  probably  amounts  to  a  considerable  dif- 
ference in  the  primitive  amounts  of  land  owner- 
ship. But  this  is  not  all.  The  princes  need  a 
larger  surface  of  the  "land  "without  2^easants" 
than  do  the  common  freemen,  because  they 
bring  with  them  their  sen^ants  and  slaves. 
These  have,  however,  no  standing  at  law,  and 
are  incapable,  according  to  the  universal  con- 
cepts of  folk  law,  of  acquiring  title  to  landed 
property.  Since,  however,  they  must  have 
land  in  order  to  live,  their  master  takes  it  for 
them,  so  as  to  settle  them  thereon.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  the  richer  the  prince  of  the  no- 
mad tribe  the  more  powerful  the  territorial 
magnate  becomes. 

But  this  means  that  wealth,  and  with  it 
social  rank,  is  consolidated  more  firmly  and 
more  durably  than  in  the  stage  of  herdsman 


178  THE  STATE 

ownership.  For  the  greatest  herds  may  be 
lost,  but  landed  property  is  indestructible ;  and 
men  bound  to  labor,  bringing  forth  rentals,  re- 
produce their  kind  even  after  the  most  terrible 
slaughter,  even  should  they  not  be  obtainable 
full  grown  in  slave  hunts. 

About  this  fixed  nucleus  of  wealth,  property 
begins  to  agglomerate  with  increasing  rapidity. 
Harmless  as  was  the  first  occupation,  men  m.ust 
soon  recognize  the  fact  that  rental  increases 
with  the  number  of  slaves  one  can  settle  on  the 
unoccuj^ied  lands.  Henceforth,  the  external 
policy  of  the  feudal  state  is  no  longer  directed 
toward  the  acquisition  of  land  and  peasants, 
but  rather  of  peasants  without  land,  to  be  car- 
ried off  home  as  serfs,  and  there  to  be  colonized 
anew.  When  the  entire  state  carries  on  the 
war  or  the  robbing  expedition,  the  nobles 
obtain  the  lion's  share.  Very  often,  however, 
they  go  off  on  their  own  account,  followed  only 
by  their  suites,  and  then  the  common  freeman, 
staying  at  home,  receives  no  share  in  the  loot. 
Thus  the  vicious  circle  constantly  tends  rapidly 
to  enlarge  with  the  increasing  wealth  of  the 


FEUDAL  STATE  179 

lands  owned  by  the  nobles.  The  more  slaves  a 
noble  has,  the  more  rental  he  can  obtain. 
With  this,  in  turn,  he  can  maintain  a  warlike 
following,  composed  of  servants,  of  lazy  free- 
men, and  of  refugees.  With  their  help,  he 
can,  in  turn,  drive  in  so  many  more  slaves,  to 
increase  his  rentals. 

This  process  takes  place,  even  where  some 
central  power  exists,  which,  pursuant  to  the 
general  law  of  the  people,  has  the  right  to  dis- 
pose of  uncultivated  lands ;  while  it  is,  in  many 
cases,  not  only  by  sufferance,  but  often  by  the 
express  sanction  of  that  authority.  As  long  as 
the  feudal  magnate  remains  the  submissive  vas- 
sal of  the  crown,  it  lies  in  the  king's  interest  to 
make  him  as  strong  as  possible.  By  this  means 
his  military  suite,  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  crown  in  times  of  war,  is  correspond- 
ingly increased.  We  shall  adduce  only  one  il- 
lustration to  show  that  the  necessary  conse- 
quence in  universal  history  is  not  confined  to 
the  well-know^n  effect  in  the  feudal  states  of 
Western  Europe,  but  follows  from  these  prem- 
ises even  under  totally  different  surroundings : 


180  THE  STATE 

"The  principal  service  in  Fiji  consisted  in  war 
duty;  and  if  the  outcome  was  successful  it 
meant  new  grants  of  lands,  including  therein 
the  denizens,  as  slaves,  and  thus  led  to  the  as- 
sumption of  new  obligations."  ^^ 

This  accumulation  of  landed  property  in 
ever  increasing  quantity  in  the  hands  of  the 
landed  nobility  brings  the  primitive  feudal 
state  of  a  higher  stage  to  the  "finished  feudal 
state"  with  a  complete  scale  of  feudal  ranks. 

Reference  to  a  previous  work  by  the  author, 
based  on  a  study  of  the  sources,  will  show  the 
same  causal  connection  for  German  lands ;  ^^ 
and  in  that  publication  it  was  pointed  out  that 
in  all  the  instances  noted  a  process  takes  place, 
identical  in  its  principal  lines  of  development. 
It  is  only  on  this  line  of  reasoning  that  one  can 
explain  the  fact,  to  take  Japan  as  an  example, 
that  its  feudal  system  developed  into  the  pre- 
cise details  which  are  well  known  to  the  stu- 
dents of  European  history,  although  Japan  is 
inhabited  by  a  race  fundamentally  different 
from  the  Arians;  and  besides  (a  strong  argu- 
ment against  giving  too  great  weight  to  the 


FEUDAL  STATE  181 

materialistic  view  of  history)  the  process  of 
agriculture  is  on  a  totally  different  technical 
basis,  since  the  Japanese  are  not  cultivators 
with  the  plow,  but  with  the  hoe. 

In  this  instance,  as  throughout  this  book,  it 
IS  not  the  fortune  of  a  single  people  that  is  in- 
vestigated; it  is  rather  the  object  of  the  author 
to  narrate  the  typical  development,  the  uni- 
versal consequences,  of  the  same  basic  traits  of 
mankind  wherever  they  are  placed.  Presup- 
posing a  knowledge  of  the  two  most  magnifi- 
cent examples  of  the  expanded  feudal  state. 
Western  Europe  and  Japan,  we  shall,  in  gen- 
eral, limit  ourselves  to  cases  less  well  known, 
and  so  far  as  possible  give  the  preference  to 
material  taken  from  ethnography,  rather  than 
from  history  in  its  more  restricted  sense. 

The  process  now  to  be  narrated  is  a  change, 
gradually  consummated  but  fundamentally 
revolutionary,  of  the  political  and  social  articu- 
lation of  the  primitive  feudal  state :  tJie  central 
authority  loses  its  j^olitical  power  to  the  terri- 
torial nobility,  the  common  freeman  sinks  from 
his  status,  while  the  "subject"  mounts. 


182  THE  STATE 

(b)    THE    CENTRAL    POWER   IN    THE    PRIMITIVE 
FEUDAL  STATE 

The  patriarch  of  a  tribe  of  herdsmen,  though 
endowed  with  the  authority  which  flows  from 
his  war-lordship  and  sacerdotal  functions,  gen- 
erally has  no  despotic  powers.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  "king"  of  a  small  settled  com- 
munity, where,  generally  speaking,  he  would 
exercise  very  limited  command.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  soon  as  some  military  genius  manages 
to  fuse  together  numerous  tribes  of  herdsmen 
into  one  powerful  mass  of  warriors,  despotic 
centralized  power  is  the  direct,  inevitable  con- 
sequence.^^ As  soon  as  war  exists,  the  truth  of 
the  Homeric 

oux  dyadrj  Tzoloxocpavcr^^  eFc  xolpavo^  earo) 

is  admitted  by  the  most  unruly  tribes,  and  be- 
comes a  fact  to  be  acted  on.  The  free  primi- 
tive huntsmen  render  to  their  elected  chief  un- 
conditioned obedience,  while  on  the  war-path; 

*  "The  rule  of  the  many  is  not  a  good  thing,  over  the  manjr 
there  should  be  one  kin^." 


FEUDAL  STATE  183 

the  free  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine,  recognizing 
no  authority  in  times  of  peace,  submit  to  their 
het man's  power  of  life  and  death  in  times  of 
war.  This  obedience  toward  their  war-lord  is 
a  trait  common  to  every  genuine  warrior 
psj^chology. 

The  leaders  of  the  great  migrations  of  no- 
mads are  all  powerful  despots :  Attila,  Omar, 
Genghis  Khan,  Tamerlane,  Mosilikatse, 
Ketchwayo.  Similar^,  we  find  that  whenever 
a  mighty  territorial  state  has  come  into  being 
as  the  result  of  the  welding  together  of  a  num- 
ber of  primitive  feudal  states,  there  existed  in 
the  beginning  a  strong  central  authority.  Ex- 
amples of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  case  of  Sar- 
gon  Cyrus,  Chlodowech,  Charlemagne,  Boles- 
law  the  Red.  Sometimes,  especially  as  long 
as  the  main  state  has  not  yet  reached  its  geo- 
graphical or  sociologic  bounds,  the  centralized 
authority  is  maintained  intact  in  the  hands  of  a 
series  of  strong  monarchs,  which  degenerates, 
in  some  instances,  to  the  maddest  despotism 
and  insanity  of  some  of  the  Ceesars:  especially 
do  we  find  flagrant  examples  of  this  in  INIeso- 


184  THE  STATE 

potamia  and  in  Africa.  We  shall  merely 
touch  on  this  phase:  the  more  so,  as  it  has  little 
general  effect  on  the  final  development  of  the 
forms  of  government.  This  point  should, 
however,  be  stated,  that  the  development  of  the 
form  of  government  of  a  despotism  depends 
in  the  main,  on  what  the  sacerdotal  status  of 
the  rulers  may  be,  in  addition  to  their  position 
as  war-lords,  and  whether  or  not  they  hold  the 
monopoly  of  trade  as  an  additional  regalian 
right. 

The  combination  of  Csesar  and  Pope  tends 
in  all  cases  to  develop  the  extreme  forms  of  des- 
potism; while  the  partition  of  spiritual  and 
temporal  functions  brings  it  about  that  their 
exponents  mutually  check  and  counterbalance 
one  another.  A  characteristic  example  may 
be  found  in  the  conditions  prevailing  among 
the  INIalay  states  of  the  East  Indian  Archipel- 
ago, genuine  "maritime  states,"  whose  genesis 
is  an  exact  counterpart  of  that  of  the  Greek 
maritime  states.  Generally  speaking,  the 
prince  has  just  as  little  power  among  these,  as, 
shall  we  say,  the  king  at  the  opening  of  the  his- 


FEUDAL  STATE  185 

tory  of  the  Attic  states.  The  chieftains  of  the 
clans  (in  Sulu  the  Dato,  in  Achin  the  Pang- 
lima),  as  in  the  case  of  Athens,  have  the  real 
power.  But  where,  "as  in  Tobah,  religious 
motives  endow  the  rulers  with  the  position  of 
a  Pope  in  miniature,  an  entirely  different 
phase  is  found.  The  Panglima  then  depend 
entirely  on  the  Rajah,  and  are  merely  of- 
ficials." ^^  To  refer  to  a  well-known  fact, 
when  the  aristocrats  and  chiefs  of  the  clans  in 
Athens  and  in  Rome  abolished  the  kingdom, 
they  preserved  at  least  the  old  title,  and 
granted  its  use  to  a  dignitary  otherwise  politi- 
cally impotent,  in  order  that  the  gods  might 
have  their  offerings  presented  in  the  accus- 
tomed manner.  For  the  same  reason,  in  many 
cases,  the  descendant  of  the  former  tribal  king 
is  j)reserved  as  a  dignitary,  otherwise  totally 
pow^erless,  while  the  actual  power  of  govern- 
ment has  long  since  been  transferred  to  some 
war  chief ;  as  in  the  later  ISIerovingian  Empire, 
the  Carolingian  Mayors  of  the  palace  (Major- 
domus)  ruled  alongside  a  *'long  locked  king," 
rea^  crinitns,  of  the  race  of  IVIerowech,  so,  in 


186  THE  STATE 

Japan,  the  Shogun  ruled  beside  the  Mikado, 
and  in  the  Empire  of  the  Incas,  the  commander 
of  the  Inca  beside  the  Huillcamna,  who  had 
been  gradually  limited  to  his  sacerdotal  func- 
tions.* ^^ 

In  addition  to  the  office  of  supreme  pontiff, 
the  power  of  the  head  of  the  state  is  frequently 
increased  enormously  by  the  trading  mo- 
nopoly, a  function  exercised  by  the  primitive 
chieftains  as  a  natural  consequence  of  the 
peaceful  barter  of  guest-gifts.  Such  a  trade 
monopoly,  for  example,  was  exercised  by  King 
Solomon;  and  latterly  by  the  Roman  Emperor 
Friedrich  Il.t "' 

As  a  rule,  the  negro  chieftains  are  "monopo- 
lists of  trading"  ;^^  as  is  the  King  of  Sulu.^^ 
Among  the  Galla,  wherever  the  supremacy  of 
a  head  chief  is  acknowledged,  he  becomes  "as 

*  In  Egypt  we  find  a  similar  state  of  affairs,  beside  the 
bigoted  Amenhotep  IV.,  the  Majordomus  of  the  palace 
Haremheb,  who  "managed  to  unite  in  his  hands  the  highest 
military  and  administrative  functions  of  the  empire,  until  he 
exercised  the  powers  of  a  regent  of  the  state."  Schneider, 
Civilization  and  Thought  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.  Leipzig, 
1907,  page  22. 

fCf.  Acta  Imperii,  or  Huillard-Breholles,  H.  D.  Fred.  II, 
— Translator. 


FEUDAL  STATE  187 

a  matter  of  course,  the  tradesman  for  his  tribe ; 
since  none  of  his  subjects  is  allowed  to  trade 
with  strangers  directly."  ^^  Among  the  Ba- 
rotse  and  IMabunda,  the  king  is  "according  to 
the  strict  interpretation  of  the  law,  the  only 
trader  of  his  country."  ^^^ 

Ratzel  notes,  in  telling  language,  the  im- 
portance of  this  factor:  *'In  addition  to  his 
witchcraft,  the  chief  increases  his  power  by  a 
monopohj  of  trading.  Since  the  chief  is  the 
sole  intermediary  in  trade,  everything  desired 
by  his  subjects  passes  through  his  hands,  and 
he  becomes  the  donor  of  all  longed-for  gifts, 
the  fulfiUer  of  the  fondest  wishes.  In  such  a 
system,  there  lie  certainly  the  x^ossibilities  of 
great  power."  ^^^  If,  in  conquered  districts, 
where  the  power  of  government  is  apt  to  be 
more  tensely  exercised,  there  is  added  the  mo- 
nopoly of  trade,  the  royal  power  may  become 
very  great. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  rule,  that  even 
in  the  apparently  most  extreme  cases  of  despot- 
ism, no  monarchical  absolutism  exists.  The 
ruler  may,  undeterred  by  fear  of  punishment, 


188  THE  STATE 

rage  against  his  subject  class ;  but  he  is  checked 
in  no  small  degree  by  his  feudal  followers. 
Ratzel,  in  speaking  of  the  subject  generally, 
remarks:  "The  so-called  'court  assemblage' 
of  African  or  of  ancient  American  chiefs  is 
probably  always  a  council.  .  .  .  Although  we 
meet  with  traces  of  absolutism  with  all  peoples 
on  a  low  scale,  even  where  the  form  of  govern- 
ment is  republican,  the  cause  of  absolutism  is 
not  in  the  strength  of  either  the  state  or  of  the 
chieftain,  but  in  the  moral  weakness  of  the  in- 
dividual, who  succumbs  without  any  effective 
resistance  to  the  powers  wielded  over  him."  ^^^ 
The  kingdom  of  the  Zulu  is  a  limited  despot- 
ism, in  which  very  powerful  ministers  of  state 
(Induna)  share  the  power;  with  other  CafRr 
tribes  it  is  a  council,  sometimes  dominating 
both  people  and  chieftains.^^^  In  spite  of  this 
control  "under  Tshaka  every  sneezing  or 
hawking  in  the  presence  of  the  tyrant,  as  well 
as  every  lack  of  tears  at  the  death  of  some  royal 
kinsman,  was  punished  with  death."  ^^*  The 
same  limitation  applies  to  the  West  African 
kingdoms  of  Dahomy  and  Ashanti,  notorious 


FEUDAL  STATE  189 

because  of  their  frightful  barbarities.  "In 
spite  of  the  waste  of  human  life,  in  war,  slave 
trade,  and  human  sacrifices,  there  existed  at  no 
place  absolute  despotism.  .  .  .  Bowditch  re- 
marks on  the  similarity  of  the  system  prevail- 
ing in  Ashanti,  with  its  ranks  and  orders,  with 
the  old  Persian  system  as  described  by  He- 
rodotus." ^^^ 

One  must  be  very  careful,  and  this  may 
again  be  insisted  upon,  not  to  confuse  despot- 
ism with  absolutism.  Even  in  the  feudal  states 
of  Western  Europe,  the  rulers  exercised,  in 
many  cases,  power  of  life  and  death,  free  from 
the  trammels  of  law;  but  nevertheless  such  a 
ruler  was  impotent  as  against  his  * 'magnates." 
So  long  as  he  does  not  interfere  with  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  classes,  he  need  not  restrain  his 
cruelty,  and  he  may  even  occasionally  sacrifice 
one  of  the  great  men ;  but  woe  to  him  were  he 
to  dare  to  touch  the  economic  privileges  of  his 
magnates.  It  is  possible  to  study  this  very 
characteristic  phase,  completely  free,  from  the 
standpoint  of  law,  and  yet  closely  hemmed  in 
by  political  checks,  in  the  great  East  African 


190  THE  STATE 

empires:  "The  government  of  Waganda  and 
Wanyoro  is,  in  theory,  based  on  the  rule  of  the 
king  over  the  whole  territory ;  but  in  reality  this 
is  only  the  semblance  of  government,  smce,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  lands  belong  to  the  supreme 
chieftains  of  the  empire.  It  was  they  who  rep- 
resented the  popular  opposition  to  foreign  in- 
fluences, in  the  time  of  Mtesa;  and  Muanga 
did  not  dare,  for  fear  of  them,  to  carry  out  any 
innovations.  Although  the  kingship  is  limited 
in  reality,  yet  in  form  it  occupies  an  imposing 
position  in  unessentials.  The  ruler  is  absolute 
master  over  the  lives  and  limbs  of  his  subjects, 
the  mass  of  the  people,  and  feels  himself  re- 
strained only  in  the  narrowest  circle  of  the 
chief  courtiers."  ^^^ 

Precisely  the  same  statement  applies  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Oceania,  to  mention  the  last  of 
the  great  societies  that  created  states :  "At  no 
j)lace  does  one  find  an  entire  absence  of  a  rep- 
resentative mediation  between  prince  and  peo- 
ple. .  .  .  The  aristocratic  principle  corrects 
the  patriarchal.  Therefore,  the  extremes  of 
despotism   depend  more   on  class  and   caste 


FEUDAL  STATE  191 

pressure  than  on  the  overpowering  will  of  any 
individual."  ''' 

(c)    THE    POLITICAL    AND    SOCIAL    DISINTEGRA- 
TION  OF  THE   PraMITI\Ti:  FEUDAL  STATE 

Space  forbids  our  detailing  the  innumerable 
shadings  under  which  the  patriarchal-aristo- 
cratic (in  some  cases  plutocratic)  mixture  of 
form  of  government  in  the  primitive  feudal 
state  is  shown  in  either  an  ethnographic,  his- 
torical or  juristic  survey.  This  is  likewise  of 
the  greatest  importance  for  the  subsequent  de- 
velopment. 

It  is  indifferent  how  much  power  the  ruler 
may  have  had  at  the  beginning,  an  inevitable 
fate  breaks  down  his  power  in  a  short  while; 
and  does  this,  one  may  say,  the  faster,  the 
greater  that  power  was,  i.  e.,  the  larger  the 
territory  of  the  primitive  feudal  state  of  higher 
grade. 

Taking  into  account  the  process  already  set 
forth,  which,  through  the  occupation  and  set- 
tlement of  unused  lands  by  means  of  newly 
acquired  slaves,  made  for  the  increase  of  power 


192  THE  STATE 

of  the  separate  nobles,  a  result  came  about 
which  might  prove  uncomfortable  for  the  cen- 
tral power.  Mommsen  in  speaking  of  the 
Celts  says :  *' When  in  a  clan  numbering  about 
eighty  thousand  armed  men,  a  single  chieftain 
could  appear  at  convocation  with  ten  thousand 
followers,  exclusive  of  his  serfs  and  debtors,  it 
becomes  clear  that  such  a  noble  was  rather  an 
independent  prince  than  a  mere  citizen  of  his 
clan."  ^^^  And  the  same  may  apply  to  the 
"Heiu"  of  the  Somali,  where  a  great  landed 
proprietor  maintained  hundreds  of  families  in 
dependence  on  his  lands,  "so  that  conditions 
in  Somaliland  tend  to  recall  those  existing 
in  mediaeval  Europe  during  feudal  times."  ^^^ 

Although  such  a  preponderance  of  isolated 
territorial  magnates  can  come  about  in  the  feu- 
dal state  of  low  development,  it  nevertheless 
reaches  its  culmination  in  the  feudal  state  of 
higher  grade,  the  great  feudal  state;  this  hap- 
pens by  reason  of  the  increased  power  given 
to  the  landlords  by  the  bestowal  of  public  of- 
ficial functions. 

The  more  the  state  expands,  the  more  must 


FEUDAL  STATE  193 

official  power  be  delegated  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment to  its  representatives  on  the  borders 
and  marches,  who  are  constantly  threatened  by 
wars  and  insurrectionary  outbreaks.  In  order 
to  preserve  his  bailiwick  in  safety  for  the  state, 
such  an  official  must  be  endowed  with  supreme 
military  powers,  joined  with  the  f mictions  of 
the  liighest  administrative  officials.  Even 
should  he  not  require  a  large  number  of  civil 
employees,  he  still  must  have  a  permanent  mili- 
tary force.  And  how  is  he  to  pay  these  men? 
With  one  possible  exception,  to  be  noted  here- 
after, there  are  no  taxes  which  flow  into  the 
treasury  of  the  central  government  and  then 
are  poured  back  again  over  the  land,  since 
these  presuppose  an  economic  development 
existing  only  where  money  is  employed.  But 
in  communities  having  a  system  of  payments 
in  kind,  such  as  these  ^'territorial  states"  all  are, 
there  are  no  taxes  payable  in  money.  For  that 
reason,  the  central  government  has  no  alter- 
native but  to  turn  over  to  the  counts,  or  border 
wardens,  or  satraps,  the  income  of  its  territo- 
rial jurisdiction.     Such  an  official,  then,  re- 


194  THE  STATE 

ceives  the  dues  of  the  subjects,  determines 
when  and  where  forced  labor  is  to  be  rendered, 
receives  the  deodands,  fees  and  penalties  pay- 
able in  cattle,  etc. ;  and  in  consideration  of  these 
must  maintain  the  armed  force,  place  definite 
numbers  of  armed  men  at  the  disposal  of  the 
central  government,  build  and  maintain  high- 
ways and  bridges,  feed  and  stable  the  ruler  and 
his  following,  or  his  *'royal  messengers,"  and 
finally,  furnish  a  definite  "Sergeantry"  consist- 
ing of  highly  valuable  goods,  easily  transported 
to  the  court,  such  as  horses,  cattle,  slaves,  pre- 
cious metals,  wines,  etc. 

In  other  words,  he  receives  an  immensely 
large  fief  for  his  services.  If  previously  he 
was  not,  he  now  becomes  the  greatest  man  in 
his  country,  though  before  he  probably  was  the 
most  powerful  landlord  in  his  official  district. 
He  will  hereafter  do  exactly  what  his  equals 
in  rank  are  doing,  although  they  msiy  not  have 
his  official  position ;  that  is  to  say,  he  will,  only 
on  a  larger  scale,  continue  to  settle  new  lands 
with  ever  newly  recruited  serfs.  By  this  he 
increases  his  military  strength;  and  this  must 


FEUDAL  STATE  195 

be  wished  for  and  aided  by  the  central  govern- 
ment. For  it  is  the  fate  cf  these  states,  that 
they  must  fatten  those  very  local  powers,  that 
are  to  engulf  them. 

Conditions  arise  which  enable  the  warden 
of  the  marches  to  impose  the  terms  of  his  mili- 
tary assistance,  especially  in  the  inevitable 
feuds  which  arise  over  the  right  of  succession 
to  the  central  government.  Thereby  he  ob- 
tains further  valuable  concessions,  especially 
the  formal  acknowledgment  of  the  heritability 
of  his  official  fief,  so  that  office  and  lands  come 
to  be  held  by  an  identical  tenure.  By  this 
means,  he  gradually  becomes  almost  independ- 
ent of  the  central  authority,  and  the  complaint 
of  the  Russian  peasant,  "The  sky  is  high  up 
and  the  Tsar  is  far  off,"  tends  to  become  of  uni- 
versal application.  Tr.ke  this  characteristic  ex- 
ample from  Africa:  "The  empire  of  Lunda  is 
an  absolute  feudal  state.  The  chieftains  (Mu- 
ata,  Mona,  Muene)  are  permitted  independent 
action  in  all  internal  affairs,  so  long  as  it 
pleases  the  Muata  Jamvo.  Usually,  the  great 
chieftains,  living  afar,  send  their  caravans  with 


196  THE  STATE 

their  tribute  once  a  year  to  the  Mussumba ;  but 
tliose  living  at  too  great  a  distance,  sometimes 
for  long  periods  omit  making  any  payments  of 
their  tribute;  while  similar  chiefs  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  capital  forward  tribute  many 
times  a  year."  ^^^ 

Nothing  can  show  more  plainly  than  this  re- 
port, how,  because  of  inadequate  means  of 
transportation,  extent  of  distance  becomes  po- 
litically effective  in  these  states  loosely  held 
together  and  in  a  state  of  payment  in  kind. 
One  is  tempted  to  say  that  the  independence 
of  the  feudal  masters  grows  in  proportion  to 
the  square  of  their  distance  from  the  seat  of  the 
central  authority.  The  crown  must  pay  more 
and  more  for  their  services,  and  must  gradually 
confirm  them  in  all  the  sovereign  powers  of  the 
state,  or  else  permit  the':-  usurpation  of  these 
powers  after  they  have  seized  them  one  after 
the  other.  Such  are  heritability  of  fiefs,  tolls 
on  highways  and  commerce,  (in  a  later  stage 
the  right  of  coinage) ,  high  and  low  justice,  the 
right  to  exact  for  private  gain  the  public 
duties  of  repair  of  ways  and  bridges  (the  old 


FEUDAL  STATE  197 

English  trinodis  necessitas)  and  the  disposal 
of  the  military  services  of  the  freemen  of  the 
country. 

By  these  means,  the  powerful  frontier 
wardens  gradually  attain  an  ever  greater,  and 
finally  a  complete,  de  facto  independence,  even 
though  the  formal  bond  of  feudal  suzerainty 
may  for  a  long  time  apparently  keep  together 
the  newly  developed  principalities.  The 
reader,  of  course,  recalls  instances  of  these  typ- 
ical transitions;  all  mediaeval  history  is  one 
chain  of  them;  not  only  the  IVIerovingian  and 
Carolingian  Empires,  not  only  Germany,  but 
also  France,  Italy,  Spain,  Poland,  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  as  well  as  Japan  and  China,^^^  have 
passed  through  this  process  of  decomposition, 
not  only  once,  but  repeatedly.  And  this  is  no 
less  true  of  the  feudal  states  of  Mesopotamia : 
great  empires  follow  each  other,  acquire  power, 
burst  asunder  time  after  time,  and  again  are 
re-united.  In  the  case  of  Persia,  we  are  ex- 
pressly told:  "Separate  states  and  provinces, 
by  a  successful  revolt,  obtained  freedom  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  and  the  'great  king' 


198  THE  STATE 

at  Susa  did  not  always  have  the  power  to 
force  them  to  return  to  their  obedience;  in 
other  states,  the  satraps  or  warHke  chieftains 
ruled  arbitrarily,  carrying  on  the  government 
faithlessly  and  violently,  either  as  independent 
rulers  or  tributary  under-kings  of  the  king  of 
kings.  The  Persian  world-empire  went  to  its 
disintegration  an  agglomeration  of  states  and 
lands,  without  any  general  law,  without  or- 
dered administration,  without  uniform  judicial 
system,  without  order  and  enforcement  of  law, 
and  without  possibility  of  help."  ^^^ 

A  similar  fate  overtook  its  neighbor  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile:  "Princes  spring  from 
the  families  of  the  usurpers,  free  landlords,  who 
pay  land-taxes  to  nobody  but  to  the  king,  and 
rule  over  certain  strips  of  land,  or  districts. 
These  district  princes  govern  a  territory  spe- 
cifically set  apart  as  pertaining  to  their  official 
position,  and  separate  from  their  family  pos- 
sessions. 

"Later  successful  warlike  operations,  per- 
haps filling  in  the  gap  between  the  Ancient  and 
the  Middle  (Egyptian)  Empire,  together  with 


FEUDAL  STATE  199 

the  gathering  in  of  captives  of  the  xscars,  who 
could  he  utilized  as  labor  motors,  brought  a 
more  stringent  exploitation  of  the  subjects,  a 
definite  determination  of  the  tributes.  Dur- 
ing the  JNIiddle  Empire,  the  power  of  the 
princes  of  the  clans  rose  to  an  enormous  height, 
they  maintained  great  courts,  imitating  the 
splendor  of  the  royal  establishment."  ^^^ 
"With  the  decline  of  the  royal  authority  dur- 
ing a  period  of  decay,  the  higher  officials  use 
their  power  for  personal  aims,  in  order  to  make 
their  offices  hereditary  within  their  fami- 
lies." *  ''* 

But  the  operation  of  this  historical  law  is 

*Maspero  says,  New  Light  on  Ancient  Egypt,  pp.  218-9: 
"Until  then,  in  fact,  the  high  priest  had  been  chosen  and  nomi- 
nated by  the  king;  from  the  time  of  Rameses  III.  he  was  al- 
ways chosen  from  the  same  family,  and  the  son  succeeded  his 
father  on  the  pontifical  throne.  From  that  time  events  marched 
quickly.  The  Theban  mortmain  was  doubled  with  a  veritable 
seigniorial  fief,  which  its  masters  increased  by  marriages  with 
the  heirs  of  neighboring  fiefs,  by  continual  bequests  from  one 
branch  of  the  family  to  the  other,  and  by  the  placing  of  cadets 
of  each  generation  at  the  head  of  the  clergy  of  certain  second- 
ary towns.  The  ofiBcial  protocol  of  the  offices  filled  by  their 
wives  shows  that  a  century  or  a  century  and  a  half  after 
Rameses  III.,  almost  the  whole  of  the  Thebaid,  about  a  third 
of  the  Egj'ptian  territory  was  in  the  hands  of  the  High  Priest 
of  Ammon  and  of  his  family." — Translator's  Note  {and  italics). 


200  THE  STATE 

not  restricted  to  the  "historical"  peoples.  In 
speaking  of  the  feudal  states  of  India,  Ratzel 
states:  "Even  beyond  Radshistan,  the  nobles 
often  enjoyed  a  great  measure  of  independ- 
ence, so  that  even  in  Haiderabad,  after  the 
Nizam  had  acquired  the  sole  rule  over  the 
country,  the  Umara  or  Nabobs  maintained 
troops  of  their  own,  independently  of  the  army 
of  the  Nizam.  These  smaller  feudatories  did 
not  comply  with  the  increased  demands  of 
modern  times  as  regards  the  administration  of 
Indian  states  as  often  as  did  the  greater 
princes."  ^^^ 

In  Africa  finally,  great  feudal  states  come 
and  pass  away,  as  do  bubbles  arising  and  burst- 
ing from  the  stream  of  eternally  similar 
phenomena.  The  powerful  Ashanti  empire, 
within  one  and  a  half  centuries,  has  shriveled 
to  less  than  one-fifth  of  its  territory;  ^^^  and 
many  of  the  empires  that  the  Portuguese  en- 
countered have  since  disappeared  without 
leaving  a  trace  of  their  existence.  And  yet 
these  were  strong  feudal  powers:  "Stately 
and    cruel    negro    empires,    such    as    Benin, 


FEUDAL  STATE  201 

Dahomy  or  Ashanti,  resemble  in  many  respects 
ancient  Peru  or  Mexico,  having  in  their 
vicinity  pohtically  disorganized  tribes.  The 
hereditary  nobility  of  the  Mfumus,  sharply 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  state,  had  mainly 
the  administration  of  the  districts,  and  to- 
gether with  the  more  ,  transitory  nobility  of 
service,  formed  in  Loango  strong  pillars  of 
the  ruler  and  his  house."  ^^^ 

But  whenever  such  a  state,  once  powerful, 
has  split  into  a  number  of  territorial  states 
either  de  facto  or  juristically  independent,  the 
former  process  begins  anew.  The  great  state 
gobbles  up  the  smaller  ones,  until  a  new  em- 
pire has  arisen.  *'The  greatest  territorial 
magnates  later  become  emperors,"  says  Meit- 
zen  laconically  of  Germany.^ ^^  But  even  this 
great  demesne  vanishes,  split  up  by  the  need 
of  equipping  warlike  vassals  with  fiefs.  "The 
Kings  soon  found  that  they  had  donated 
away  all  their  belongings;  their  great  territo- 
rial possessions  in  the  Delta  had  melted  away," 
says  Schneider  (1.  c.  page  38)  of  the  Pharaohs 
of    the    sixth    dynasty.     The    same    causes 


202  THE  STATE 

brought  about  like  effects  in  the  Frankish  Em- 
pire among  both  Merovingians  and  Carolin- 
gians ;  and  later  in  Germany  in  the  case  of  the 
Saxon  and  Hohenstaufen  Emperors/^^  Ad- 
ditional references  are  unnecessary,  as  every 
one  is  familiar  with  these  instances. 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  this  treatise,  we 
shall  examine  into  the  causes  that  finally 
liberated  the  primitive  feudal  state  from  this 
witch's  curse,  this  circling  from  agglomeration 
to  disintegration  without  end.  Our  present 
task  is  to  take  up  the  social  side  of  the  process, 
as  we  have  already  taken  up  the  historical 
phase  of  it.  It  changes  the  articulation  of 
classes  in  the  most  decisive  manner. 

The  common  freemen,  the  lower  strata  of 
the  dominating  groujD,  are  struck  with  over- 
powering force.  They  sink  into  bondsmen- 
ship.  Their  decay  must  go  along  with  that  of 
the  central  power ;  since  both,  allied  one  might 
say,  by  nature,  are  menaced  simultaneously 
by  the  expanding  power  of  the  great  territorial 
lords.  The  crown  controls  the  landed  mag- 
nate so  long  as  the  levy  of  the  common  free- 


FEUDAL  STATE  203 

men  of  the  district  is  a  superior  force  to  his 
guards,  to  his  "following."  But  a  fatal  need, 
already  set  forth,  impels  the  cro^vn  to  deliver 
over  the  peasants  to  the  landed  lordling,  and 
from  the  moment  when  the  county  levy  has 
become  weaker  than  his  guards,  the  free  peas- 
ants are  lost.  Where  the  sovereign  powers  of 
the  state  are  delegated  to  the  territorial  mag- 
nate, i.  e.,  w^here  he  has  developed  more  or  less 
into  an  independent  lord  of  the  region,  the  over- 
throw of  the  liberties  of  the  peasants  is  carried 
out,  at  least  in  part,  under  the  color  of  law, 
by  forcing  excessive  militar}^  services,  which 
ruin  the  peasants,  and  which  are  required  the 
more  often  as  the  djTiastic  interests  of  the 
territorial  lord  require  new  lands  and  new 
peasants,  or  by  abusing  the  right  to  compulsory 
labor,  or  by  turning  the  administration  of  pub- 
lic justice  into  military  oppression. 

The  common  freemen,  however,  receive  the 
final  blow  either  by  the  formal  delegation  or  by 
the  usurpation  of  the  most  important  powers 
of  the  crown,  the  disposition  of  unoccupied 
lands  or  "commons."     Originally,  this  land  be- 


204  THE  STATE 

longed  to  all  the  "folk"  in  common;  i.  e.,  to  the 
freemen  for  common  use;  but  in  accordance 
with  an  original  custom,  probably  universal, 
the  patriarch  enjoys  disposal  of  it.  This  right 
of  disposition  passes  to  the  territorial 
magnate  with  the  remaining  royal  privi- 
leges— and  thus  he  has  obtained  the  power 
to  strangle  any  few  remaining  freemen.  He 
now  declares  all  unoccupied  lands  his  proj)erty, 
and  forbids  their  settlement  by  free  peasants^ 
while  those  only  are  permitted  access  who 
recognize  his  superior  lordship ;  i.  e.,  who  have 
commended  themselves  to  him,  or  are  his  serfs. 
That  is  the  last  nail  in  the  coffin  of  the  com- 
mon freemen.  Heretofore  their  equality  of 
possessions  has  been  in  some  way  guaranteed. 
Even  if  a  peasant  had  twelve  sons,  his  patri- 
mony was  not  split  up,  because  eleven  of  them 
broke  new  hides  of  land  in  the  commons  of 
the  community,  or  else  in  the  general  land  not 
yet  distributed  to  other  villages.  That  is 
henceforth  impossible;  hides  tend  to  divide 
where  large  families  grow  up,  others  are 
united  when  heir  and  heiress  marry:  hence- 


FEUDAL  STATE  205 

forth  there  come  into  existence  "laborers,"  re- 
cruited from  the  owners  of  half,  a  quarter,  or 
even  an  eighth  of  a  hide  who  help  work  a  larger 
area.  Thus  the  free  peasantry  splits  into  rich 
and  poor;  this  begins  to  loosen  the  bond  which 
hitherto  had  made  the  bundle  of  arrows  un- 
breakable. When,  therefore,  some  comrade  is 
overwhelmed  by  the  exactions  of  the  lord  and 
has  become  his  liegeman,  or  if  bond  peasants 
are  settled  among  the  original  owners,  either 
to  occupy  some  hide  vacated  by  the  extinction 
of  the  family  or  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
lord  because  of  the  indebtedness  of  its  occu- 
pant, then  every  social  cohesion  is  loosened; 
and  the  peasantry,  split  apart  by  class  and  by 
economic  contrasts,  is  handed  over  without 
power  of  resistance  to  the  magnate. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  result  is  the  same 
where  the  magnate  has  no  usurped  regalian 
powers  of  the  state.  In  such  cases,  open 
force  and  shameless  violation  of  rights  ac- 
complish the  same  ends.  The  ruler,  far  off 
and  impotent,  bound  to  rely  on  the  good  will 
and  help  of  the  violators  of  law  and  order,  has 


206  THE  STATE 

neither  the  power  nor  the  opportunity  of  inter- 
ference. 

There  is  hardly  any  need  of  adducing  in- 
stances. The  free  peasantry  of  Germany  were 
put  through  the  process  of  expropriation  and 
declassification  at  least  three  times.  Once  it 
hapj)ened  in  Celtic  times/"^  The  second  over- 
throw of  the  free  peasants  of  the  old  German 
Empire  took  place  in  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries.  The  third  tragedy  of  the  same  form 
began  with  the  fifteenth  century,  in  the  coun- 
tries formerly  Slavic,  which  they  had  conquered 
and  colonized. ^^^  The  peasants  fared  worse 
in  those  lands,  in  the  "republics  of  nobles," 
where  there  was  no  monarchical  central  au- 
thority, whose  community  of  interests  with 
their  subjects  tended  to  deprive  oppression  of 
its  worse  features.  The  Celts  in  the  Gaul  of 
Cgesar's  time  are  one  of  the  earliest  examples. 
Here  "the  great  families  exercised  an  eco- 
nomic, military  and  political  preponderance. 
They  monopolized  the  leases  of  tlie  lucrative 
rights  of  the  state.  They  forced  the  common 
freemen,  overwhelmed  by  the  taxes  which  they 


FEUDAL  STATE  207 

had  themselves  imposed,  to  borrow  of  them,  and 
then,  first  as  then*  debtors,  afterward  legally 
as  their  serfs,  to  surrender  their  liberty.  For 
their  own  advantage  they  developed  the  sys- 
tem of  followers:  i.  e.,  the  privilege  of  the  no- 
bilit}^  to  have  about  them  a  mass  of  armed  serv- 
ants in  their  pay,  called  amhacti,  with  whose 
aid  they  formed  a  state  within  a  state.  Rely- 
ing on  these,  their  own  men-at-arms,  they  de- 
fied the  lawful  authorities  and  the  levies  of  the 
freemen,  and  thus  were  able  to  burst  asunder 
the  commonwealth.  .  .  .  The  only  protection 
to  be  found  was  in  the  relation  of  serfdom, 
where  personal  duty  and  interest  required  the 
lord  to  protect  his  clients  and  to  avenge  any 
wrong  to  his  men.  Since  the  srtate  no  longer 
had  the  power  to  protect  the  freemen,  these  in 
growing  numbers  became  the  vassals  of  some 
powerful  noble."  ^-^  We  find  these  identical 
conditions  fifteen  hundred  years  later  in  Kur- 
land,  Livonia,  in  Swedish  Pomerania,  in  East- 
ern Holstein,  in  Mecklenburg,  and  especially 
in  Poland.  In  the  German  territories  the 
petty  nobles  subjugated  their  peasantry,  while 


208  THE  STATE 

in  Poland  their  prey  was  the  formerly  free  and 
noble  Schlachziz.  ''Universal  history  is  mo- 
notonous," says  RatzeL  The  same  procedure 
overthrew  the  peasantry  of  ancient  Egypt: 
"After  a  warlike  interinezzo,  there  follows  a 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Middle  Empire, 
which  brings  about  a  deterioration  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  peasantry  in  Lower  Egypt.  The 
number  of  landlords  decreases,  while  their  ter- 
ritorial growth  and  power  increases.  The 
tribute  of  the  peasants  is  hereafter  determined 
by  an  exact  assessment  on  their  estates,  and 
definitely  fixed  by  a  sort  of  Doomsday  Book. 
Because  of  this  pressure,  many  peasants  soon 
enter  the  lord's  court  or  the  cities  of  the  local 
rulers,  and  take  employment  there  either  as 
servants,  mechanics,  or  even  as  overseers  in  the 
economic  organization  of  these  manors  or 
courts.  In  common  with  any  available  cap- 
tives, they  contribute  to  the  extension  of  the 
prince's  estates,  and  to  further  the  general  ex- 
pulsion of  the  peasantry  from  their  hold- 
ings." 12^ 

The  example  of  the  Roman  Empire  shows, 


FEUDAL  STATE  209 

as  notliing  else  can,  how  inevitable  this  process 
becomes.  When  we  first  meet  Rome  in  history 
the  conception  of  serfdom  or  bondage  has  al- 
ready been  forgotten.  \^Tien  the  "modern 
period"  of  Rome  opens,  only  slavery  is  known. 
And  yet,  within  fifteen  centuries,  the  free 
peasantry  again  sink  into  economic  depend- 
ence, after  Rome  has  become  an  overextended, 
unwieldy  empire,  whose  border  districts  have 
more  and  more  dissolved  from  the  central  con- 
trol. The  great  landed  proprietors,  having 
been  endowed  with  the  lower  justice  and  police 
administration  on  their  own  estates  have  "re- 
duced their  servants,  who  may  originally  have 
been  free  proprietors  of  the  'ager  privatiis 
vectigalis'  to  a  state  of  servitude,  and  have 
thus  developed  a  sort  of  actual  glehce  adscrip- 
tus,  within  the  boundaries  of  their  'immuni- 
ties.' "  ^-^  The  invading  Germans  found  this 
feudal  order  worked  out  in  Gaul  and  the  other 
provinces.  At  this  particular  time,  the  im- 
mense difference  formerly  existing  between 
slaves  and  free  settlers  (coloni)  had  been  com- 
pletely obliterated,  first  in  their  economic  posi- 


210  THE  STATE 

tion,  and  then,  naturally,  in  their  constitutional 
rights. 

Wherever  the  common  freemen  sink  into 
political  and  economic  dependence  on  the  great 
territorial  magnates,  when,  in  other  words, 
they  become  bound  either  to  the  court  or  to 
the  lands,  the  social  group  formerly  subject 
to  them  tend  in  a  corresponding  measure  to 
improve  their  status.  Both  layers  tend  to 
meet  half-way,  to  approximate  their  position, 
and  finally  to  amalgamate.  The  observations 
just  made  concerning  the  free  settlers  and  the 
agricultural  slaves  of  the  later  Koman  Empire 
hold  true  everywhere.  Thus  in  Germany, 
freemen  and  serfs  together  formed,  when 
fused,  the  economic  and  legally  unital 
group  of  Grundholde,  or  men  bound  to  the 
soil.^^^ 

The  elevation  of  the  former  ^'subjects," 
hereafter  for  the  sake  of  brevity  to  be  called 
"plebs,"  flows  from  the  same  source  as  the  de- 
basement of  the  freeman,  and  arises  by  the 
same  necessity  from  the  very  foundations  on 
which  these  states  are  themselves  erected,  viz.. 


FEUDAL  STATE  211 

the  agglomeration  of  the  landed  property  in 
ever  fewer  hands. 

The  plebs  are  the  natural  opponents  of  the 
central  government — since  that  is  their  con- 
queror and  tax  imposer;  while  they  naturally 
oppose  the  common  freemen,  who  desj)ise  them 
and  oi)press  them  politically,  besides  crowding 
them  back  economically.  The  great  magnate 
also  is  the  natural  opponent  of  the  central  gov- 
ernment— an  impediment  in  his  path  toward 
complete  independence,  and  he  is  at  the  same 
time  also  a  natural  enemy  of  the  common  free- 
men, who  in  turn  not  only  support  the  central 
government;  but  also  block  with  their  posses- 
sions his  path  toward  territorial  dominion, 
w^hile  with  their  claims  to  equality  of  political 
rights  they  annoy  his  princely  pride.  Since 
the  political  and  social  interests  of  the  terri- 
torial princes  and  of  the  plebs  coincide,  they 
must  become  allies ;  the  prince  can  attain  com- 
plete independence  only  if,  in  his  fight  for 
power  against  the  crown  and  the  common  free- 
men, he  controls  reliable  warriors  and  acquies- 
cent taxpayers;  the  plebs  can  only  then  be 


212  THE  STATE 

freed  from  their  pariah-like  declassification, 
both  economically  and  socially,  if  the  hated 
and  proud  coimiion  freemen  are  brought  down 
to  their  level. 

This  is  the  second  time  that  we  have  noted 
the  identity  of  interest  between  the  princes  and 
their  subjects.     The  first  time  we   found  a 
weakly  developed  solidarity  in  our  second  stage 
of  state  formation.     This  causes  the  semi-sov- 
ereign prince  to  treat  his  dependent  tenants  as 
kindly  as  he  ill-treats  the  free  peasants  of  his 
territory;  in  consequence,  they  will  fight  the 
more  willingly  for  him  and  contribute  taxes, 
while  the  more  readily  will  the  oppressed  free- 
men succumb  to  the  pressure,  especially  as  their 
share  of  political  power  in  the  state,  coincident 
with  the  decline  of  the  central  power,  has  be- 
come only  a  meaningless  phrase.     In  some 
cases,  as  in  Germany  toward  the  end  of  the 
tenth  century,  this  was  done  with  full  con- 
sciousness of  its  effects  ^^^ — some  prince  exer- 
cises a  particularly  "mild"  rule,  in  order  to 
draw  the  subjects  of  a  neighboring  potentate 
into  his  lands,  and  thus  to  increase  his  own 


FEUDAL  STATE  213 

strength  in  war  and  taxation,  and  to  weaken 
his  opponent's.  The  plebs  come  to  possess, 
both  legally  and  actually,  constantly  increas- 
ing rights,  enlarged  privileges  of  the  law  of 
ownershijD,  perhaps  self-government  in  com- 
mon affairs,  and  their  own  administration  of 
justice;  thus  they  rise  in  the  same  degree 
as  the  common  freemen  sink,  until  the  two 
classes  meet  and  they  are  amalgamated  into 
one  body  on  approximately  the  same  jural 
and  economic  plane.  Half  serfs,  half  subjects 
of  a  state,  they  represent  a  characteristic  for- 
mation of  the  feudal  state,  which  does  not  as 
yet  recognize  any  clear  distinction  between 
public  and  private  law;  in  its  turn  an  immedi- 
ate consequence  of  its  own  historical  genesis, 
the  dominion  in  the  form  of  a  state  for  the  sake 
of  economic  private  rights, 

(d)    THE  ETHNIC  AMALGAMATION 

The  juristic  and  social  amalgamation  of  the 
degraded  freemen  and  the  uplifted  plebs 
henceforth  inevitably  tends  toward  ethnic  in- 
terpenetration.     While   at   first   the   subject 


214  THE  STATE 

peoples  were  not  allowed  either  to  intermarry 
or  to  have  social  intercourse  with  the  freemen, 
now  no  such  obstacles  can  be  maintained;  in 
any  single  village  the  social  class  is  no  longer 
determined  by  descent  from  the  ruling  race, 
but  rather  by  wealth.  And  the  case  may  fre- 
quently arise  where  the  pure-blooded  descend- 
ant of  the  warrior  herdsman  must  earn  his  liv- 
ing as  a  field  hand  in  the  hire  of  the  equally 
pure-blooded  descendant  of  the  former  serfs. 
The  social  group  of  the  subjects  is  now  com- 
posed of  a  part  of  the  former  ethnic  master 
group  and  a  part  of  the  former  subject  group. 
We  say  from  a  part  only,  because  the  other 
part  has  by  this  time  been  amalgamated  with 
the  other  part  of  the  old  ethnic  master  group 
into  a  unital  social  class.  In  other  words,  a 
part  of  the  plebs  has  not  only  attained  the  posi- 
tion to  which  the  mass  of  the  common  freemen 
have  sunk,  but  has  climbed  far  beyond  it,  in 
that  it  has  been  completely  received  into  the 
dominating  group,  which  in  the  meantime,  has 
not  only  risen  enormously,  but  has  been  as 
greatly  diminished  in  numbers. 


FEUDAL  STATE  215 

And  that,  too,  is  a  universal  process  found 
in  all  history;  because  everywhere  it  follows 
w^ith  equally  compelling  force  from  the  very 
premises  of  feudal  dominion.  The  immus 
inter  pares,  whether  the  holder  of  the  central 
power  or  some  local  potentate,  taking  the  rank 
of  a  prince,  requires  more  supple  tools  for  his 
dominion  than  are  to  be  found  among  liis 
"peers."  The  latter  represent  a  class  whom 
he  must  put  down  if  he  wants  to  rise — and  that 
is  and  must  be  the  aun  of  every  one,  since  in 
this  stage  aiming  for  power  is  identical  with 
the  aim  of  self-preservation.  In  this  effort  he 
is  opposed  by  his  obnoxious  and  stiff-necked 
cousins  and  by  his  petty  nobles — and  for  this 
reason,  we  find  at  every  court,  from  that  of  the 
sovereign  king  of  a  mighty  feudal  empire  down 
to  the  lord  of  what  is  hardly  more  than  a  big 
estate,  men  of  insignificant  descent  as  con- 
fidential officials  alongside  representatives  of 
the  master  group,  who  in  many  cases  under 
the  mask  of  officials  of  the  prince,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  are  "ephors,"  sharers  of  the  power  of 
the  j)i'ince  as   the  plenipotentiaries  of  their 


216  THE  STATE 

group.  Let  us  but  recall  the  Induna  at  the 
court  of  the  Bantu  kmgs.  There  is  no  won- 
der, then,  that  the  prince  rather  places  con- 
fidence in  his  own  men  than  in  these  annoying 
and  pretentious  advisers,  in  men  whose  posi- 
tion is  indissolubly  bound  up  with  his  own,  and 
who  would  be  ruined  by  his  fall.* 

Here,  too,  historical  references  are  nearly 
superfluous.  Every  one  is  familiar  with  the 
fact  that  at  the  courts  of  the  western  Euro- 
pean feudal  kingdoms,  besides  the  relatives  of 
the  king  and  some  noble  vassals,  there  were 
also  elements  from  the  lower  groups,  occupy- 
ing high  positions,  clerics  and  great  warriors 
of  the  plebeian  class.  Among  the  immediate 
following  of  Charlemagne  all  the  races  and 
peoples  of  his  empire  were  represented.  Also 
in  the  tales  of  Theodoric  the  Goth  in  the 
Dietrich  Saga  of  the  Niebelungen  Lied,  this 

*  One  of  the  most  notable  instances  may  be  found  in  the 
case  of  Markward  of  Annweiler,  Marquis  of  Ancona  and  Duke 
of  Ravenna,  seneschal  of  Henry  VI.,  who  after  the  death 
of  the  Emperor  Henry  VI.  disputed  the  power  of  the  Regent 
Constance  acting  for  her  son,  Frederick  II.  (See  Boehmer- 
Ficker,  Regesta  Imperii,  V,  vol.  1,  No.  511.  v.  ad.  annum 
1197.)— Translator. 


FEUDAL  STATE  217 

rise  of  brave  sons  of  the  subject  races  finds 
its  reflection.  In  addition  to  these,  there  fol- 
low some  less  well-known  instances. 

In  Egypt,  as  far  back  as  the  Old  Empire, 
there  is  fomid  alongside  the  royal  officials  of 
the  feudal  nobility,  who  are  the  descendants  of 
the  Shepherd  conquerors,  administering  their 
districts  as  representatives  of  the  crown,  with 
plenary  powers  as  deputies,  "a  mass  of  court 
officials  trusted  with  determined  functions  of 
government."  It  "originated  with  the  serv- 
ants employed  at  the  courts  of  the  princes, 
such  as  prisoners  of  war,  refugees  etc,"  ^^"^ 
The  fable  of  Joseph  shows  a  state  of  affairs 
known  at  that  time  to  be  a  usual  occurrence,  of 
the  rise  of  a  slave  to  the  position  of  an  all 
powerful  minister  of  state.  At  the  present 
day  such  a  career  is  within  the  realm  of  possi- 
bilit}^  at  any  oriental  court,  such  as  Persia, 
Turkey,  or  jNIorocco,  etc.  In  the  case  of  old 
]Marshal  Derflinger,  in  the  time  of  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  I.,  the  Great  Elector,  at  a  much 
later  date,  we  have  an  example  from  the  transi- 
tion of  the  developed  feudal  state  to  a  more 


218  THE  STATE 

modern  form  of  the  state,  which  might  be  mul- 
tiplied by  the  examples  of  innumerable  other 
brave  swordsmen. 

Let  us  add  a  few  instances  from  the  peoples 
"disregarded  by  history."  Ratzel  tells  of  the 
realm  of  Bornu:  "The  freemen  have  not  lost 
the  consciousness  of  their  free  descent,  in  con- 
trast with  the  slaves  of  the  sheik ;  but  the  rulers 
place  more  confidence  in  their  slaves  than  in 
their  own  kinsmen  and  free  associates  of  their 
tribe.  They  can  count  on  the  devotion  of  the 
former.  Not  only  positions  at  court,  but  the 
defense  of  the  country  was  from  ancient  times 
preferably  confided  to  slaves.  The  brothers 
of  the  prince,  as  well  as  the  more  ambitious  or 
more  efficient  sons,  are  objects  of  suspicion; 
and  while  the  most  important  places  at  court 
are  in  the  hands  of  slaves,  the  princes  are  put 
at  posts  far  from  the  seat  of  government. 
Their  salaries  are  paid  from  the  incomes  of  the 
offices  and  the  taxes  from  the  provinces."  ^^^ 

Among  the  Fulbe  "society  is  divided  into 
princes,  chieftains,  commons  and  slaves.  The 
slaves  of  the  king  play  a  great  role  as  soldiers 


FEUDAL  STATE  219 

and  officials,  and  may  hope  for  the  highest 
offices  in  the  state."^^^ 

This  nobihty  of  the  court's  creation  may, 
in  certain  cases,  be  admitted  to  the  great  im- 
perial offices,  so  that  according  to  the  method 
stated  above,  it  may  achieve  the  sovereignty 
over  a  territory.  In  the  developed  feudal 
state,  it  represents  the  high  nobility;  and 
usually  manages  to  preserve  its  rank,  even 
when  some  more  powerful  neighbor  has 
mediatized  it  by  incorporating  the  state.  The 
Frankish  higher  nobility  certainly  contains 
such  elements  from  the  original  lower  group  ;^^^ 
and  since  from  its  blood  the  entire  upper 
nobility  of  the  European  civilized  states  has 
been  descended  at  least  in  direct  line  by 
marriage,  we  find  an  ethnic  amalgamation, 
both  in  the  present  day  group  of  subjects  and 
in  the  highest  order  of  the  ruling  class.  And 
the  same  applies  to  Egypt:  "With  the  sink- 
ing of  the  royal  authority  in  the  time  of  the 
decay,  the  higher  officials  abuse  their  powder  for 
personal  ends,  to  make  their  offices  hereditary 
in  their  families,  and  thereby  to  call  into  exist- 


220  THE  STATE 

ence  an  official  nobility  not  differentiated  from 
the  rest  of  the  population."  ^^^ 

And  finally,  the  same  process,  from  the  same 
causes,  takes  hold  of  the  present  middle  class, 
the  lower  stratum  of  the  master  class, 
the  officials  and  officers  of  the  great  feudato- 
ries. At  first  there  still  exists  a  social  dif- 
ference between,  on  the  one  hand,  the  free  vas- 
sals, the  subfeudatories  of  the  great  landlord, 
kinsmen,  younger  sons  of  other  noble  families, 
impoverished  associates  from  the  same  district, 
in  isolated  cases  freeborn  sons  of  peasants,  free 
refugees  and  professional  ruffians  of  free 
descent ;  and  on  the  other,  if  the  term  may  be 
allowed,  the  subalterns  of  the  guards  of 
plebeian  descent.  But  lack  of  freedom  ad- 
vances, while  freedom  sinks  in  social  value; 
and  here  too  the  ruler  places  more  reliance  on 
his  creatures  than  on  his  peers.  Hei^e  also, 
sooner  or  later,  the  process  of  amalgamation 
becomes  complete.  In  Germany,  as  late  as 
1085,  the  non-free  nobility  of  the  court  ranks 
between  ^'servi  et  litones"  while  a  century 
afterward   it   is    placed   with   the   ''liheii   et 


FEUDAL  STATE  221 

nobiles/'  In  the  course  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, it  has  been  completely  absorbed,  along 
with  the  free  vassals,  into  the  nobility  by 
chivalry.  The  two  orders  in  the  meantime 
tend  to  become  equal  economically;  both 
have  subinfeudations,  fiefs  on  the  obligation  of 
service  in  warfare,  and  the  service  feuds  of  the 
bondsmen;  while  all  the  fiefs  of  the  "minister- 
ials"  or  sergeants  have  in  the  meantime  become 
as  heritable  as  are  those  of  the  free  vassals,  as 
much  so  as  are  the  patrimonies  of  the  few  sur- 
viving smaller  territorial  lords  belonging  to 
the  original  nobility,  who  may  still  have  escaped 
the  grasp  of  the  great  territorial  principalities. 
In  ways  quite  analogous  to  this  the  develop- 
ment went  on  in  all  other  feudal  states  of 
Western  Europe;  while  its  exact  counterpart 
is  found  in  the  extremest  Orient  on  the  edge  of 
the  Eurasian  continent,  in  Japan.  The  daimio 
are  the  higher  nobility;  the  samurai,  the 
chivalry,  the  nobility  of  the  sword. 

(e)  THE  de^t:loped  feudal  state 
With  this  the  feudal  state  has  reached  its 
pinnacle.     It  forms,  politically  and  socially,  a 


222  THE  STATE 

hierarchy  of  numerous  strata;  of  which,  in  all 
cases,  the  lower  is  bound  to  render  service  to 
the  next  above  it,  and  the  superior  is  bound  to 
render  protection  to  the  one  below.  The 
pyramid  rests  on  the  laboring  population,  of 
whom  the  major  part  are  as  yet  peasants;  the 
surplus  of  their  labor,  the  ground  rental,  the 
entire  "surplus  value"  of  the  economic  means 
is  used  to  support  the  upper  strata  of  society. 
This  ground  rent  from  the  majority  of  estates 
is  turned  over  to  the  sm.all  holders  of  fiefs,  ex- 
cept where  these  estates  are  still  in  the  im- 
mediate possession  of  the  prince  or  of  the 
crown  and  have  not  as  yet  been  granted  as 
fiefs.  The  holders  of  them  are  bound  in  re- 
turn to  provide  the  stipulated  military  service, 
and  also,  in  certain  cases,  to  render  labor  of 
an  economic  value.  The  larger  vassal  is  in 
turn  bound  to  serve  the  gTeat  tenants  of  the 
crown;  who  in  their  turn  are,  at  least  at  strict 
law,  under  similar  obligation  toward  the  bearer 
of  the  central  pov/er;  while  emperor,  king, 
sultan,  shah,  or  Pharaoh  in  their  turn,  are  re- 
garded as  the  vassals  of  the  tribal  god.     Thus 


FEUDAL  STATE  223 

there  starts  from  the  fields,  whose  peasantry- 
support  and  nourish  all,  and  mounts  up  to  the 
"king  of  heaven"  an  artificially  graded  order 
of  ranks,  which  constricts  so  absolutely  all  the 
life  of  the  state,  that  according  to  custom  and 
law  neither  a  bit  of  land  nor  a  man  can  be  un- 
derstood unless  w^ithin  its  fold.  Since  all 
rights  originally  created  for  the  common  free- 
men have  either  been  resumed  by  the  state,  or 
else  have  been  distorted  by  the  victorious 
princes  of  territories,  it  comes  about  that  a  per- 
son not  in  some  feudal  relation  to  some  su- 
perior must  in  fact  be  ''without  the  law,"  be 
without  claim  for  protection  or  justice,  i.  e., 
be  outside  the  scope  of  that  power  which  alone 
affords  justice.  Therefore  the  rule,  nulle 
terre  sans  seigneur,  appearing  to  us  at  first 
blush  as  an  ebullition  of  feudal  arrogance,  is  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  codification  of  an  existing 
new  state  of  law,  or  at  the  very  least  the  clear- 
ing away  of  some  archaic  remnants,  no  longer 
to  be  tolerated,  of  the  completely  discarded 
'primitive  feudal  state. 

Those  philosophers  of  history  who  pretend 


224  THE  STATE 

to  explain  every  historic  development  from  the 
quality  of  ''races,"  give  as  the  center  of  their 
strategic  position  the  alleged  fact,  that  only 
the  Germans,  thanks  to  their  superior  ''politi- 
cal capacity,"  have  managed  to  raise  the  ar- 
tistic edifice  of  the  develojDed  feudal  state. 
Some  of  the  vigor  of  this  argimient  has  de- 
parted, since  the  conviction  began  to  dawn  on 
them  that  in  Japan,  the  Mongol  race  had  ac- 
complished this  identical  result.  No  one  can 
tell  what  the  negro  races  might  have  done,  had 
not  the  irruption  of  stronger  civilizations 
barred  their  way,  and  yet  Uganda  does  not 
differ  very  greatly  from  the  empires  of  the 
Carolingians  or  of  Boleslaw  the  Red,  except 
that  men  did  not  have  in  Uganda  any  "values 
of  tradition"  of  medieval  culture:  and  these 
values  were  not  any  merit  of  the  Germanic 
races,  but  a  gift  wherewith  fortune  endowed 
them. 

Shifting  the  discussion  from  the  negro  to 
the  "Semites,"  we  find  the  charge  made  that 
this  race  has  absolutely  no  capacity  for  the 
formation  of  states.     And  yet  we  find,  thou- 


FEUDAL  STATE  225 

sands  of  years  ago,  this  same  feudal  system  de- 
veloped, by  Semites,  if  the  founders  of  the 
Egyptian  kingdom  were  Semites.  One  would 
think  the  following  description  of  Thurnwald 
were  taken  from  the  period  of  the  Hohen- 
staufen  emperors:  ''Whoever  entered  the 
following  of  some  powerful  one,  was  thereafter 
protected  by  him  as  though  he  had  been  the 
head  of  the  family.  This  relation  .  .  . 
betokens  a  fiduciary  relation  similar  to  vas- 
salage. This  relation  of  protection  in  return 
for  allegiance  tends  to  become  the  basis  of  the 
organization  of  all  Egyptian  society.  It  is 
the  basis  of  the  relations  of  the  feudal  lord  to 
his  sergeants  and  peasants,  as  it  is  that  of  the 
Pharaoh  to  his  officials.  The  cohesion  of  the 
individuals  in  groups  subject  to  common  pro- 
tecting lords,  is  founded  on  this  view,  even  up 
to  the  apex  of  the  pyramid,  to  the  king  him- 
self regarded  as  'the  vicar  of  his  ancestors,'  as 
the  vassal  of  the  gods  on  earth.  .  .  .  Whoso- 
ever stands  without  this  social  gi^asp,  a  'man 
without  a  master,'  is  without  the  pale  of  pro- 
tection and  therefore  without  the  law."  ^^^ 


226  THE  STATE 

The  hypothesis  of  the  endowment  of  any 
particular  race  has  not  been  used  by  us,  and 
we  have  no  need  of  it.  As  Herbert  Spencer 
says,  it  is  the  stupidest  of  all  imaginable  at- 
tempts to  construct  a  philosophy  of  history. 

The  first  characteristic  of  the  developed 
feudal  state  is  the  manifold  gradation  of 
ranks  built  uj)  into  the  one  pyramid  of  mu- 
tual dependence.  Its  second  distinctive  mark 
is  the  amalgamation  of  the  ethnic  groups, 
originally  separated. 

The  consciousness  formerly  existent  of  dif- 
ference of  races  has  disappeared  completely. 
There  remains  only  the  difference  of  classes. 

Henceforth  we  shall  deal  only  ^\\\h  social 
classes,  and  no  longer  with  ethnic  groups. 
The  social  contrast  is  the  only  ruling  factor 
in  the  life  of  the  state.  Consistently  with 
this  the  ethnic  group  consciousness  changes  to 
a  class  consciousness,  the  theories  of  the  group, 
to  the  theories  of  the  class.  Yet  they  do 
not  thereby  change  in  the  least  their  essence. 
The  new  dominating  classes  are  just  as  full  of 
their  divine  right  as  was  the  former  master 


FEUDAL  STATE  227 

group,  and  it  soon  is  seen  that  the  new  no- 
bility of  the  sword  manages  to  forget,  quickly 
and  thorouglily,  its  descent  from  the  van- 
quished group ;  while  the  former  freemen  now 
declassed,  or  the  former  petty  nobles  sunk  in 
the  social  scale,  henceforth  swear  just  as  firmly 
by  ''natural  law"  as  did  formerly  only  the  sub- 
jected tribes. 

The  developed  feudal  state  is,  in  its  es- 
sentials, exactly  the  same  thing  as  it  was  when 
yet  in  the  second  stage  of  state  formation.  Its 
form  is  that  of  dominion,  its  reason  for  being, 
the  pohtical  exploitation  of  the  economic 
means,  limited  by  pubHc  law,  which  compels 
the  master  class  to  give  the  correlative  pro- 
tection, and  which  guarantees  to  the  lower  class 
the  right  of  being  protected,  to  the  extent  that 
they  are  kept  working  and  paying  taxes,  that 
they  may  fulfil  their  duty  to  their  masters.  In 
its  essentials  government  has  not  changed,  it 
has  only  been  disposed  in  more  grades;  and 
the  same  applies  to  the  exploitation,  or  as  the 
economic  theory  puts  it,  ''the  distribution" 
of  wealth. 


228  THE  STATE 

Just  as  formerly,  so  now,  the  internal  policy 
of  these  states  swings  in  that  orbit  prescribed 
by  the  parallelogram  of  the  centrifugal  thrust 
of  the  former  group  contests,  now  class  wars, 
counteracted  by  the  centripetal  pull  of  the 
common  interests.  Just  as  formerly,  so  now, 
its  foreign  policy  is  determined  by  the  striv- 
ing of  its  master  class  for  new  lands  and  serfs, 
a  thrust  for  extension  caused  at  the  same  time 
by  the  still  existing  need  of  self-i3reservation. 
Although  differentiated  much  more  minutely, 
and  integrated  much  more  powerfully,  the  de- 
veloped feudal  state  is  in  the  end  nothing  more 
than  the  primitive  state  arrived  at  its  maturity. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  deat:lopmext  of  the  coxstitutional 

STATE 

If  we  understand  the  outcome  of  the  feudal 
state,  in  the  sense  given  above,  as  further  or- 
ganic development  either  forward  or  backward 
conditioned  by  the  power  of  inner  forces,  but 
not  as  a  physical  termination,  brought  about 
or  conditioned  by  outside  forces,  then  we  may 
say  that  the  outcome  of  the  feudal  state  is  de- 
termined essentially  by  the  independent  de- 
velopment of  social  institutions  called  into  be- 
ing by  the  economic  means. 

Such  influences  may  come  also  from  with- 
out, from  foreign  states  which,  thanks  to  a 
more  advanced  economic  development,  pos- 
sess a  more  tensely  centralized  power,  a  better 
military  organization,  and  a  greater  forward 
thrust.  We  have  touched  on  some  of  these 
phases.     The  independent  development  of  the 


230  THE  STATE 

Mediterranean  feudal  states  was  abruptly 
stopped  by  their  collision  with  those  maritime 
states,  which  were  on  a  much  higher  plane  of 
economic  growth  and  wealth,  and  more  cen- 
tralized, such  as  Carthage,  and  more  espe- 
cially Rome.  The  destruction  of  the  Persian 
Empire  by  Alexander  the  Great  may  be  in- 
stanced in  this  connection,  since  Macedonia 
had  at  that  time  appropriated  the  economic 
advances  of  the  Hellenic  maritime  states. 
The  best  example  within  modern  times  is  the 
foreign  influence  in  the  case  of  Japan,  whose 
development  was  shortened  in  an  almost  in- 
credible manner  by  the  military  and  peaceful 
impulses  of  Western  European  civilization. 
In  the  space  of  barely  one  generation  it 
covered  the  road  from  a  fully  matured  feudal 
state  to  the  completely  developed  modern  con- 
stitutional state. 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  have  only  to  deal 
with  an  abbreviation  of  the  process  of  develop- 
ment. As  far  as  we  can  see — though  hence- 
forth historical  evidence  becomes  meager,  and 
there  are  scarcely  any  examples  from  ethnog- 


CONSTITUTIOXAL  STATE     231 

rapliy — the  rule  may  be  stated  that  forces 
from  withm,  even  without  strong  foreign  in- 
fluences, lead  the  matured  feudal  state,  with 
strict  logical  consistency,  on  the  same  path  to 
the  identical  conclusion. 

The  creators  of  the  economic  means  con- 
troUuig  this  advance  are  the  cities  and  their 
system  of  money  economy,  w^hich  gradually  su- 
persedes the  system  of  natural  economy,  and 
thereby  dislocates  the  axis  about  which  the 
whole  life  of  the  state  swings;  in  place  of 
landed  property,  mobile  capital  gradually  be- 
comes preponderant. 

(a)     THE    EMANCIPATION'    OF    THE    PEASANTRY 

All  this  follows  as  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  basic  premise  of  the  feudal  state.  The 
more  the  gi'eat  private  landlords  become  a 
landed  nobility,  the  more  in  the  same  measure 
must  the  feudal  system  of  natural  economy 
break  to  pieces.  The  more  great  landed 
property  rights  become  vested  in  and  nur- 
tured by  the  princes  of  territorial  states,  the 
more  is  the  feudal  system  based  on  paym^ents 


232  THE  STATE 

in  kind  bound  to  disintegrate;  one  may  say 
that  the  two  keep  step  in  this  develop- 
ment. 

So  long  as  the  ownership  of  great  estates  is 
comparatively  limited,  the  primitive  principle 
of  the  bee-keeper,  allowing  his  peasants  barely 
enough  for  subsistence,  can  be  carried  out. 
When,  however,  these  expand  into  territorial 
dimensions,  and  include,  as  is  regularly  the 
case,  accretions  of  land  which  are  the  results  of 
successful  warfare,  or  by  the  relinquishment 
and  subinfeudation  through  heritage  or  politi- 
cal marriages  of  smaller  land  owners,  scattered 
widely  about  the  country  and  far  from  the 
master's  original  domains,  then  the  policy  of 
the  bee-keeper  can  no  longer  be  carried  out. 
Unless,  therefore,  the  territorial  magnate 
means  to  keep  in  his  pay  an  immense  mass  of 
overseers,  which  would  be  both  expensive  and 
pohtically  unwise,  he  would  have  to  impose 
on  his  peasants  some  fixed  tribute,  jmrtly 
rental  and  partly  tax.  The  economic  need  of 
an  administrative  reform  unites,  therefore, 
with   the   political   necessity,   to    elevate   the 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     233 

''plebs,"  in  the  way  which  has  already  been 
discussed. 

The  more  the  territorial  magnate  ceases  to 
be  a  private  landlord,  the  more  exclusively  he 
tends  to  become  a  subject  of  public  law,  viz., 
prince  of  a  territory,  the  more  the  solidarity 
mentioned  above,  between  prince  and  people 
grows.  We  saw  that  some  few  magnates 
even  as  far  back  as  the  period  of  transition 
from  great  landed  estates  to  principalities, 
found  it  to  their  greatest  interest  to  carry  on 
a  "mild"  government.  This  accomplished  the 
result,  not  only  of  educating  their  plebs  to  a 
more  virile  consciousness  toward  the  state,  but 
also  had  the  effect  of  making  it  easy  for  the 
few  remaining  common  freemen  to  give  up 
their  political  rights  in  return  for  protection; 
while  it  was  stiU  more  important,  in  that  it  de- 
prived their  neighbors  and  rivals  of  their  pre- 
cious human  material.  When  the  territorial 
prince  has  finally  reached  complete  de  facto 
independence,  his  self  interest  must  prompt 
him  steadfastly  to  persevere  in  the  path  thus 
begun.     Should  he,  however,  again  invest  his 


234  THE  STATE 

bailiffs  or  officers  with  lands  and  peasants,  he 
will  still  have  the  most  pressing  political  in- 
terest to  see  to  it  that  his  subjects  are  not  de- 
livered over  to  them  without  restraint.  In  or- 
der to  retain  his  control,  the  prince  will  limit 
the  right  of  the  "knights"  to  incomes  from 
lands  to  definite  payments  in  kind  and  limited 
forced  labor,  reserving  to  himself  that  required 
in  the  public  interests,  such  as  forced  labor  on 
highways  or  on  bridges.  We  shall  soon  come 
to  see  that  the  circumstance  that  in  all  de- 
veloped feudal  states  the  peasants  have  at  least 
two  masters  claiming  service,  is  decisive  for 
their  later  rise. 

For  all  these  reasons,  the  services  to  be  re- 
quired of  peasants  in  a  developed  feudal  state 
must  in  some  fashion  be  hmited.  Henceforth, 
all  surplus  belongs  to  him  free  from  the  con- 
trol of  the  landlord.  With  this  change,  the 
character  of  landed  property  has  been  utterly 
revolutionized.  Heretofore  the  landlord,  as 
of  right,  was  entitled  to  the  entire  revenue  sav- 
ing only  what  was  absolutely  necessary  to  per- 
mit his  peasants  to  subsist  and  continue  theii* 


CONSTITU.TIOXAL  STATE     235 

brood;  while  hereafter,  the  total  product  of 
his  work,  as  of  right,  belongs  to  the  peasant, 
saving  only  a  fixed  charge  for  his  landlord  as 
ground  rent.  The  possession  of  vast  landed 
estates  has  developed  into  {manorial)  rights. 
This  completes  the  second  important  step 
tahen  by  humanity  toward  its  goal.  The 
first  step  w^as  taken  when  man  made  the 
transition  from  the  stage  of  bear  to  that  of 
the  bee-keeper,  and  thereby  discovered  slavery ; 
this  step  abolishes  slavery.  Laboring  human- 
ity, heretofore  only  an  object  of  the  law,  now 
for  the  first  time  becomes  an  entity  capable 
of  enjoying  rights.  The  labor  motor,  with- 
out rights,  belonging  to  its  master,  and  with- 
out effective  guarantees  of  life  and  limb,  has 
now  become  the  taxpaying  subject  of  some 
prince.  Henceforth  the  economic  means,  now 
for  the  first  time  assured  of  its  success, 
develops  its  forces  quite  differently.  The 
peasant  works  with  incomparably  more  in- 
dustry and  care,  obtains  more  than  he  needs, 
and  thereby  calls  into  being  the  "city"  in  the 
economic  sense  of  the  term,  viz.,  the  industrial 


286  THE  STATE 

city.  The  surplus  produced  by  the  peasantry 
calls  into  being  a  demand  for  objects  not  pro- 
duced in  the  peasant  economy;  while  at  the 
same  time,  the  more  intensive  agriculture 
brings  about  a  reduction  of  those  industrial 
by-products  heretofore  worked  out  by  the 
peasant  house  industry. 

Since  agriculture  and  cattle-raising  absorb 
in  ever  increasing  degrees  the  energies  of  the 
rural  family,  it  becomes  possible  and  neces- 
sary to  divide  labor  between  original  produc- 
tion and  manufacture ;  the  village  tends  to  be- 
come primarily  the  place  of  the  former,  the 
industrial  city  comes  into  being  as  the  seat  of 
the  latter. 

(b)     THE    GENESIS    OF    THE   INDUSTRIAJL    STATE 

Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding:  we  do 
not  maintain  that  the  city  comes  thus  into  be- 
ing, but  only  the  industrial  city.  There  has 
been  in  existence  the  real  historical  city,  to  be 
found  in  every  developed  feudal  state.  Such 
cities  came  into  being  either  because  of  a  purely 
political  means,  as  a  stronghold, ^^^  or  by  the 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     ^37 

cooperation  of  the  political  with  economic 
means,  as  a  market  place,  or  because  of  some 
religious  need,  as  the  environs  of  some  temple.* 
Wherever  such  a  city  in  the  historical  sense 
exists  in  the  neighborhood,  the  newly  arising 
industrial  city  tends  to  grow  up  about  it; 
otherwise  it  develops  spontaneously  from  the 
existing  and  matured  division  of  labor.  As  a 
ru(e,  it  will  in  its  turn  grow  into  a  stronghold 
and  have  its  own  places  of  worship. 

These  are  but  accidental  historical  admix- 
tures. In  its  strict  economic  sense  "city" 
means  the  place  of  the  economic  means,  or  the 
exchange  and  interchange  for  equivalent 
values  between  rural  production  and  manu- 
facture. This  corresponds  to  the  common  use 
of  language,  by  which  a  stronghold  however 
great,  an  agglomeration  of  temples,  cloisters 

*  "Every  place  of  worship  gathers  about  it  dwellings  of  the 
priests,  schools,  and  rest-houses  for  pilgrims." — Ratzel,  1.  c.  II., 
p.  575. 

Naturally,  every  place  toward  which  great  pilgrimages  pro- 
ceed becomes  an  extended  trade  center.  We  may  see  the  re- 
membrances thereof  in  the  fact  that  the  great  wholesale  mar- 
kets, held  at  stated  times  in  Northern  Europe,  are  called 
Mess  en  from  the  religious  ceremony. 


23S  THE  STATE 

and  places  of  pilgrimage  however  extensive, 
were  they  conceivable  without  any  place  for 
exchange,  would  be  designated  after  their  ex- 
ternal characteristics  as  'like  a  city"  or  "re- 
sembling a  city." 

Although  there  may  have  been  few  changes 
in  the  exterior  of  the  historical  city,  there  has 
taken  place  an  internal  revolution  on  a  mag- 
nificent scale.  The  industrial  city  is  directly 
'  opposed  to  the  state.  As  the  state  is  the  de- 
^  veloped  political  means,  so  the  industrial  city 
is  the  developed  economic  means.  The  great 
contest  filling  universal  history,  nay  its  very 
meaning,  henceforth  takes  place  between  city 
and  state. 

The  city  as  an  economic,  political  body  un- 
dermines the  feudal  system  with  political  and 
economic  arms.  With  the  first  the  city 
forces,  with  the  second  it  lures,  their  power 
away  from  the  feudal  master  class. 

This  process  takes  place  in  the  field  of  poli- 
tics by  the  interference  of  the  city,  now  a 
center  of  its  own  powers,  in  the  political 
mechanism  of  the  developed  feudal  state,  be- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     239 

tween  the  central  power  and  the  local  terri- 
torial magnates  and  their  subjects.  The  cities 
are  the  strongholds  and  the  dwelling  places  of 
warlike  men,  as  well  as  depots  of  material  for 
carrying  on  war  (arms,  etc.) ;  and  later  they 
become  central  suj)ply  reservoirs  for  money 
used  in  the  contests  between  the  central  gov- 
ernment and  the  growing  territorial  princes, 
or  between  these  in  their  internecine  wars. 
Thus  they  are  important  strategic  points  or 
valuable  allies;  and  may  by  far-sighted  policy 
acquire  important  rights. 

As  a  rule,  the  cities  take  the  part  of  the 
crown  in  fights  against  the  feudal  nobles,  from 
social  reasons,  because  the  landed  nobles  re- 
fuse to  recognize  the  social  equality,  demanded 
as  of  right  by  their  more  wealthy  citizens; 
from  political  reasons,  because  the  central  gov- 
ernment, thanks  to  the  solidarity  between 
prince  and  people,  is  more  apt  to  be  influenced 
by  common  interests  than  is  the  territorial 
magnate,  who  serves  only  his  private  interests ; 
and  finally  from  economic  reasons,  because 
city  life  can  prosper  only  in  peace  and  safety. 


240  THE  STATE 

The  practises  of  chivalry,  such  as  club  law,  and 
private  warfare,  and  the  knights'  practise  of 
looting  caravans  are  irreconcilable  with  the 
economic  means;  and  therefore,  the  cities  are 
faithful  allies  of  the  guardians  of  peace  and 
justice,  first  to  the  emj)eror,  later  on,  to  the 
sovereign  territorial  prince;  and  when  the 
armed  citizenship  breaks  and  pillages  some 
robber  baron's  fortress,  the  tiny  drop  reflects 
the  identical  process  happening  in  the  ocean 
of  history. 

In  order  successfully  to  carry  this  political 
role  the  city  must  attract  as  many  citizens  as 
possible,  an  endeavor  also  forced  on  it  by 
purely  economic  considerations,  since  both  di- 
visions of  labor  and  wealth  increase  with  in- 
creased citizenship.  Therefore  cities  favor 
immigration  with  all  their  powers;  and  once 
more  show  in  this  the  polar  contrast  of  their 
essential  difference  from  the  feudal  landlords. 
The  new  citizens  thus  attracted  into  the  cities 
are  withdrawn  from  the  feudal  estates,  which 
are  thereby  weakened  in  power  of  taxation  and 
military  defense  in  proportion  as  the  cities  are 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     241 

strengthened.  The  city  becomes  a  mighty 
competitor  at  the  auction,  wherein  the  serf  is 
knocked  down  to  the  highest  bidder,  to  the 
one,  that  is  to  say,  who  offers  the  most  rights. 
The  city  offers  the  peasant  complete  liberti/, 
and  in  some  cases  house  and  courtyard.  The 
principle,  "city  air  frees  the  peasant"  is  suc- 
cessfully fought  out;  and  the  central  govern- 
ment, pleased  to  strengthen  the  cities  and  to 
weaken  the  turbulent  nobles,  usually  confii^ms 
by  charter  the  newly  acquired  rights. 

The  third  great  move  in  the  progress  of  uni- 
versal history  is  to  he  seen  in  the  discovery 
of  the  honor  of  free  labor;  or  better  in  its  re- 
discovery, it  having  been  lost  sight  of  since 
those  far-off  times  in  which  the  free  huntsman 
and  the  subjugated  primitive  tiller  enjoyed 
the  results  of  their  labor.  As  yet  the  peasant 
bears  the  mark  of  the  pariah  and  his  rights  are 
little  respected.  But  in  the  wall-girt,  well- 
defended  city,  the  citizen  holds  his  head  high. 
He  is  a  freeman  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
free  even  at  law,  since  we  find  in  the  grants  of 
rights    to    many    early    enfranchised    cities 


242  THE  STATE 

{Ville-franche)  the  provision  that  a  serf  re- 
siding therein  "a  year  and  a  day"  undisturbed 
by  his  master's  claim  is  to  be  deemed  free. 

Within  the  city  walls  there  are  still  yarious 
ranks  and  grades  of  political  status.  At  first 
the  old  settlers,  the  men  of  rank  equal  with 
the  nobles  of  the  surrounding  country,  the 
ancient  freemen  of  the  burgh,  refuse  to  the 
newcomers,  usually  poor  artisans  or  huck- 
sters, the  right  of  sharing  in  the  government. 
But,  as  we  saw  in  the  case  of  the  maritime 
cities,  such  gradations  of  rank  can  not  be  main- 
tained within  a  business  community.  The  ma- 
jority, intelligent,  skeptical,  closely  organized 
and  compact,  forces  the  concession  of  equal 
rights.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  con- 
test is  longer  in  a  developed  feudal  state,  be- 
cause now  the  fight  concerns  not  only  the  par- 
ties at  interest.  The  gi^eat  territorial  mag- 
nates of  the  neighborhood  and  the  princes  hin- 
der the  full  development  of  the  forces  by  their 
interference.  In  the  maritime  states  of  the 
ancient  world,  there  was  no  tertius  gaudens 
who  could  derive  any  profit  from  the  contests 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     243 

witliin  the  city,  since  outside  the  cities  there 
existed  no  system  of  powerful  feudal  lords. 

These  then,  are  the  political  arms  of  the 
cities  in  their  contest  with  the  feudal  state :  al- 
liances with  the  cro^vn,  direct  attack,  and  the 
enticing  away  of  the  serfs  of  the  feudal  lords 
into  the  enfranchising  air  of  the  city»  Its  eco- 
nomic weapons  are  no  less  effective,  the  change 
from  payments  in  kind  to  the  system  of  money 
as  a  means  of  exchange  is  inseparably  con- 
nected wuth  civic  methods,  is  the  means 
v/hereby  the  method  of  payment  in  kind  is  ut- 
terly destroyed,  and  with  it  the  feudal  state. 

(c)     THE    INFLUENCES    OF    MONEY    ECONOMY 

The  sociological  process  set  into  motion  by 
the  system  of  money  economy  is  so  well  known 
and  its  mechanics  are  so  generally  recognized, 
that  a  few  suggestions  will  suffice. 

Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  maritime  states, 
the  consequence  of  the  invading  money  system 
is  that  the  central  government  becomes  almost 
07nni potent^  while  the  local  powers  are  reduced 
to  complete  impotence. 


244  THE  STATE 

Dominion  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  merely 
the  means  of  the  rulers  to  their  essential  ob- 
ject, the  enjoyment  without  labor  of  articles 
of  consumption  as  many  and  as  valuable  as 
possible.  During  the  prevalence  of  the  sys- 
tem of  natural  economy  there  is  no  other  way 
of  obtaining  them  save  by  dominion ;  the  ward- 
ens of  the  marches  and  the  territorial  princes 
obtain  their  wealth  by  their  political  power. 
The  more  peasants  who  are  owned,  the  greater 
is  the  militar}^  power  and  the  larger  the  scope 
of  the  territory  subjected,  and  thus  the  greater 
are  the  revenues.  As  soon,  however,  as  the 
products  of  agriculture  are  exchangeable  for 
enticing  wares,  it  becomes  more  rational  for 
every  one  primarily  a  private  man,  i.  e.,  for 
every  feudal  lord  not  a  territorial  prince — and 
this  now  includes  the  knights — to  decrease  as 
far  as  possible  the  number  of  peasants,  and  to 
leave  only  such  small  numbers  as  can  with  the 
utmost  labor  turn  out  the  greatest  product 
from  the  land,  and  to  leave  these  as  little  as 
possible.  The  net  product  of  the  real  estate, 
thus  tremendously  increased,  is  now  taken  to 


CONSTITUTIOXAL  STATE     245 

the  markets  and  sold  for  goods,  and  is  no 
longer  used  to  keep  a  fencible  body  of  guards. 
Having  dissolved  this  following,  the  knight 
becomes  simply  the  manager  of  a  knight's 
fee.*  With  this  event,  as  with  one  blow, 
the  central  power,  that  of  king  or  territorial 
prince,  is  without  a  rival  for  the  dominion,  and 
has  become  politically  omnipotent.  The  un- 
ruly vassals,  who  formerly  made  the  weak 
kings  tremble,  after  a  short  attempt  at  joint 
rule  during  the  time  of  the  government  of  the 
feudal  estates,  have  changed  into  the  supple 
courtiers,  begging  favors  at  the  hands  of  some 
absolute  mpnarch,  like  Louis  XIV.  And  he 
furthermore  has  become  their  last  resort,  since 
the  military  power,  now  solely  exercised  by 
him  as  the  paymaster  of  the  forces,  alone  can 
protect  them  from  the  ever-immanent  revolt 
of  their  tenants,  ground  to  the  bone.  While 
in  the  time  of  natural  economy  the  crown  was 
in  nearly  every  instance  allied  wdth  peasants 
and  cities  against  nobility,  we  now  have  the 

*  See  reference  as  to  the  meaning  of  Bitter gutsbesitz,  ante, 
page  84. — Translator, 


246  THE  STATE 

union  of  the  absolute  kings,  born  from  the 
feudal  state,  with  their  nobility,  against  the 
representatives  of  the  economic  means. 

Since  the  days  of  Adam  Smith  it  has  been 
customary  to  state  this  fundamental  revolu- 
tion in  some  such  form,  as  though  the  foolish 
nobles  had  sold  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of 
pottage,  when  they  traded  their  dominion  for 
foolish  articles  of  luxury.  No  view  can  be 
more  erroneous.  Individuals  often  err  in  the 
safe-guarding  of  their  interests :  a  class  for  any 
prolonged  period  never  is  in  error. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  system 
of  money  payments  strengthened  the  central 
power  so  mightily  and  immediately,  that  even 
without  the  interposition  of  the  agrarian  up- 
heaval, any  resistance  of  the  landed  nobility 
would  have  been  senseless.  As  is  shown  in 
the  history  of  antiquity,  the  army  of  a  cen- 
tral government,  financially  strong,  is  always 
superior  to  feudal  levies.  Money  permits  the 
armament  of  peasant  sons,  and  the  drilling  of 
them  into  professional  soldiers,  whose  solid  or- 
ganization is  always  superior  to  the  loose  con- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     247 

federation  of  an  armed  mass  of  knights- 
Besides,  at  this  stage,  the  central  government 
could  also  count  on  the  aid  of  the  well-armed 
squares  of  the  urban  guilds. 

Gunpowder  did  the  rest  in  Western  Eu- 
rope. Firearms,  however,  are  a  product  that 
can  be  turned  out  only  in  the  industrial  estab- 
lishments of  a  wealthy  city.  Because  of  these 
technical  military  reasons,  even  that  feudal 
landlord  who  might  not  care  for  the  newly 
established  luxuries  and  who  might  only  be 
desirous  of  maintaining  or  increasing  his  in- 
dependent position,  must  subject  his  terri- 
tories to  the  same  agrarian  revolution;  since, 
in  order  to  be  strong,  he  now  before  all  else 
must  have  money,  which  in  the  new  order  of 
things,  has  become  the  nervus  rerum,  either  to 
buy  arms  or  to  engage  mercenaries.  A 
second  capitalistic  wholesale  undertaking, 
therefore,  has  come  into  being  through  the 
system  of  payments  in  money;  besides  the 
wholesale  management  of  landed  estates,  war 
is  carried  on  as  a  great  business  enterprise — 
the  condottieri  appear  on  the  stage.     The  mar- 


248  THE  STATE 

ket  is  full  of  material  for  armies  of  merce- 
naries, the  discharged  guards  of  the  feudal 
lords  and  the  young  peasants  whose  lands  have 
been  taken  up  by  the  lords. 

There  are  instances  where  some  petty  noble 
may  mount  to  the  throne  of  some  territorial 
principality,  as  happened  many  a  time  in 
Italy,  and  as  was  accomplished  by  Albrecht 
Wallenstein,  even  as  late  as  the  period  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  But  that  is  a  matter  of 
individual  fate,  not  affecting  the  final  result. 
The  local  powers  disappear  from  the  contest 
of  political  forces  as  indej)endent  centers  of 
authority  and  retain  the  remnant  of  their 
former  influence  only  so  long  as  they  serve  the 
princes  as  a  source  of  supplies;  that  is,  the 
state  composed  of  its  feudal  estates. 

The  infinite  increase  in  the  power  of  the 
crown  is  then  enhanced  by  a  second  creation 
of  the  system  of  payment  in  money,  by 
officialdom.  We  have  told  in  detail  of  the 
vicious  circle  which  forced  the  feudal  state  into 
a  cul-de-sac  between  agglomeration  and  dis- 
solution, as  long  as  its  bailiffs  had  to  be  paid 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     249 

with  "lands  and  peasants"  and  thereby  were 
nui'sed  into  potential  rivals  of  their  creator. 
With  the  advent  of  payments  in  money,  the 
vicious  circle  is  broken.  Henceforth  the  cen- 
tral government  carries  on  its  functions 
through  paid  employees,  permanently  de- 
pendent on  their  paymaster.^^^  Henceforth 
there  is  possible  a  permanently  established, 
tensely  centralized  government,  and  empires 
come  into  being,  such  as  had  not  existed  since 
the  developed  maritime  states  of  antiquity, 
which  also  were  founded  on  the  payments  in 
money. 

This  revolution  of  the  political  mechanism 
was  everywhere  put  into  motion  by  the  de- 
velopment of  the  money  economy — ^with  but 
one  exception,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  viz.,  Egypt. 

Here,  according  to  the  statement  of  experts, 
no  definite  information  is  to  be  had,  and  it 
seems  that  the  system  of  money  exchanges  ap- 
pears as  a  matured  institution  only  in  Greek 
times.  Until  that  time,  the  tribute  of  the 
peasants  was  paid  in  kind;^^^  and  yet  we  find, 
shortly  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Shepherd 


250  THE  STATE 

Kings,  during  the  New  Empire  {circa  six- 
teenth century  B.  C),  that  the  absolutism  of 
the  kings  was  fully  developed:  "The  military 
power  is  upheld  by  foreign  mercenaries,  the 
administration  is  carried  on  by  a  centralized 
body  of  officials  dependent  on  the  royal 
favor,  while  the  feudal  aristocracy  has  disap- 
peared/' ''' 

It  may  seem  that  this  exception  proves  the 
rule.  Egypt  is  a  country  of  exceptional 
geographic  conformation.  Jammed  into  a 
narrow  compass,  between  mountains  and  the 
desert,  a  natural  highway,  the  River  Nile, 
traverses  its  entire  length,  and  permits  the 
transportation  of  bulky  freight  with  much 
greater  facility  than  the  finest  road.  And 
this  highway  made  it  easy  for  the  Pharaoh  to 
assemble  the  taxes  of  all  his  districts  in  his  own 
storehouses,  the  so-called  "houses"  *^^  and 
from  them  to  supply  his  garrisons  and  civil 
employees  with  the  products  themselves  in 
natura.  For  that  reason  Egypt,  after  it  has 
once  become  unified  into  an  empire,  stays  cen- 
tralized, until  foreign  powers  extinguish  its 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     251 

life  as  a  "state."  "Tliis  circumstance  is  the 
source  of  the  enormous  and  plenary  power  ex- 
ercised by  the  Pharaoh  where  payments  are 
still  made  in  kind ;  the  exclusive  and  immediate 
control  of  the  objects  of  daily  consmnption 
are  in  his  hand.  The  ruler  distributes  to  his 
employees  only  such  quantities  of  the  entire 
mass  of  goods  as  appears  to  him  good  and 
proper;  and  since  the  articles  of  luxury  are 
nearly  all  exclusively  in  his  hands,  he  enjoys 
on  this  account  also  an  extraordinary  pleni- 
tude of  power."  ^^^ 

With  this  one  exception,  where  a  mighty 
force  executes  the  task,  the  power  of  circu- 
lating money  seems  in  all  cases  to  have  dis- 
solved the  feudal  state. 

The  cost  of  the  revolution  fell  on  peasants 
and  cities.  Wlien  peace  is  made,  the  crown 
and  the  petty  nobles  mutually  sacrifice  the 
peasantry,  dividing  them,  so  to  say,  into  two 
ideal  halves;  the  crown  grants  to  the  nobility 
the  major  part  of  the  peasants'  common  lands, 
and  the  greatest  part  of  their  working  powers 
that  are  not   yet   expropriated;  the  nobility 


252  THE  STATE 

concedes  to  the  crown  the  right  of  recruiting 
and  of  taxing  both  peasantry  and  cities.  The 
peasant,  who  had  grown  wealthy  in  freedom, 
sinks  back  into  poverty  and  therefore  into 
social  inferiority.  The  former  feudal  powers 
now  unite  as  allies  to  subjugate  the  cities,  ex- 
cept where,  as  in  Upper  Italy,  these  become 
feudal  central  powers  themselves.  (And  even 
in  that  case  they  for  the  most  part  all  fall  into 
the  power  of  captains  of  mercenaries,  con- 
dottieri.)  The  power  of  attack  of  the  ad- 
versaries has  become  stronger,  the  power  of 
the  cities  has  diminished.  For  with  the  decay 
of  the  peasantry,  their  purchase  power  di- 
minishes and  with  it  the  prosperity  of  the 
cities,  based  thereon.  The  small  cities  in  the 
country  stagnate  and  become  poorer,  and  be- 
ing now  incapable  of  defense,  fall  a  prey  to  the 
absolutist  rule  of  the  territorial  princes;  the 
larger  cities,  where  the  demand  for  the  luxuries 
of  the  nobles  has  brought  into  being  a  strong 
trading  element,  split  up  into  social  groups  and 
thus  fritter  away  their  political  strength. 
The  immigration  now  pouring  into  their  walls 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     253 

is  composed  of  discharged  and  broken  mercen- 
aries, dispossessed  peasants,  pauperized  me- 
chanics from  the  smaller  towns;  it  is  in  other 
words  a  proletarian  immigration.  For  the 
first  time  there  appears,  in  the  terminology  of 
Karl  Marx,  the  "free  laborer,"  in  masses,  com- 
peting with  his  own  class  in  the  labor  markets 
of  the  cities.  And  again,  the  "law  of  agglom- 
eration" enters  to  form  effective  class  and 
property  distinctions,  and  thus  to  tear  apart 
the  civic  population.  Wild  fights  take  place 
in  the  cities  between  the  classes ;  thi^ough  which 
the  territorial  prince,  in  nearly  every  instance, 
again  succeeds  in  gaining  control.  The  only 
cities  that  can  permanently  escape  the  deadly 
embrace  of  the  prince's  power  are  the  few  gen- 
uine "maritime  states,"  or  "city  states." 

As  in  the  case  of  the  maritime  states,  the 
pivot  of  the  state's  life  has  again  shifted  over  to 
another  place.  Instead  of  circling  about  wealth 
vested  in  landed  estates,  it  now  turns  about 
capitalized  wealth,  because  in  the  meantime 
I)roperty  in  real  estate  has  itself  become  "capi- 
tal."    Why  is  it  that  the  development  does 


254  THE  STATE 

iiot^  as  ill  the  case  of  the  viaritime  states,  open 
out  into  the  capitalistic  eoopropriation  of  slave 
labor? 

There  are  two  controlling  reasons,  one  in- 
ternal, the  other  external.  The  external  rea- 
son is  to  be  found  in  this,  that  slave  hunting  on 
a  profitable  scale  is  scarcely  possible  at  this 
time  in  any  part  of  the  world,  since  nearly  all 
countries  within  reach  are  also  organized  as 
strong  states.  Wherever  it  is  possible,  as  for 
instance,  in  the  American  colonies  of  the  West 
European  powers,  it  develops  at  once. 

The  external  reason  may  be  found  in  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  peasant  of  the  interior 
countries,  in  contrast  to  the  conditions  prevail- 
ing in  the  maritime  states,  is  subject,  not  to  one 
master,  but  to  at  least  two  *  persons  entitled 
to  his  service,  his  prince  and  his  landlord. 
Both  resist  any  attempt  to  diminish  their  peas- 
ants' capacity  for  service,  since  this  is  essential 
to  their  interests.  Especially  strong  princes 
did  much  for  their  peasants,  e.  g.,  those  of 

*  In  mediaeval  Germany  the  peasants  pay  tribute  in  many 
cases  not  only  to  the  landlord  and  to  the  territorial  prince,  but 
also  to  the  provost  and  to  the  bailiff. 


en 


CONSTITUTIOXAL  STATE     255 

Brandenburg-Prussia.  For  this  reason,  the 
peasants,  although  exploited  miserably,  yet  re- 
tained their  personal  liberty  and  their  stand- 
ing as  subjects  endowed  with  personal  rights 
in  all  states  where  the  feudal  system  had  been 
fully  developed  when  the  system  of  payments 
in  money  replaced  that  of  payments  in  kind. 

The  evidence  that  this  explanation  is  correct 
may  be  found  in  the  relations  of  those  states 
which  were  gripped  by  the  system  of  exchange 
in  money,  before  the  feudal  system  had  be- 
come worked  out. 

This  applies  especially  to  those  districts  of 
Germany  formerly  occupied  by  Slavs,  but 
particularly  to  Poland.  In  these  districts,  the 
feudal  system  had  not  yet  been  worked  out  as 
thoroughly  as  in  the  regions  where  the  demand 
for  grain  products  in  the  great  western  indus- 
trial centers  had  changed  the  nobles,  the 
subjects  of  public  law,  into  the  owTiers  of  a 
Rittergut*  the  subjects  of  private  economic  in- 
terests. In  these  districts,  the  peasants  were 
subject  to  the  duty  of  rendering  service  only  to 

*  See  foot-note  on  page  84. 


256  THE  STATE 

one  master,  who  was  both  their  liege  lord  and 
landlord;  and  because  of  that,  there  came  into 
being  the  republics  of  nobles  mentioned  above, 
which,  as  far  as  the  pressure  of  their  more  pro- 
gressed neighbors  would  permit,  tended  to  ap- 
proach the  capitalistic  system  of  exploiting  of 
slave  labor.^^^ 

The  following  is  so  well  known  that  it  can 
be  stated  briefly.  The  system  of  exchange  by 
means  of  money  matures  into  capitalism,  and 
brings  into  being  new  classes  in  juxtaposition 
to  the  landowners;  the  capitalist  demands 
equal  rights  with  the  formerly  privileged 
orders,  and  finally  obtains  them  by  revolution- 
izing the  lower  plebs.  In  this  attack  on  the 
sacredly  established  order  of  things,  the  cap- 
italists unite  with  the  lower  classes,  naturally 
under  the  banner  of  "natural  law."  But  as 
soon  as  the  victory  has  been  achieved,  the  class 
based  on  movable  wealth,  the  so-called  middle 
class,  turns  its  arms  on  the  lower  classes,  makes 
peace  with  its  former  opponents,  and  invokes  in 
its  reactionary  fight  on  the  proletarians,  its  late 
allies,  the  theory  of  legitimacy,  or  makes  use 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     257 

of  an  evil  mixture  of  arguments  based  partly 
on  legitimacy  and  partly  on  pseudo-liberalism. 
In  this  manner  the  state  has  gradually  ma- 
tured from  the  primitive  robber  state,  through 
the  stages  of  the  developed  feudal  state, 
through  absolutism,  to  the  modern  constitu- 
tional state. 

(d)    THE   MODERN    CONSTITUTIONAL   STATE 

Let  us  give  the  mechanics  and  kinetics  of 
the  modern  state  a  moment's  time. 

In  principle,  it  is  the  same  entity  as  the 
primitive  robber  state  or  the  developed  feudal 
state.  There  has  been  added,  however,  one 
new  element — officialdom,  which  at  least  will 
have  this  object,  that  in  the  contest  of  the  va- 
rious classes,  it  will  represent  the  common  in- 
terests of  the  state  as  a  whole.  In  how  far  this 
purpose  is  subserved  we  shall  investigate  in  an- 
other place.  Let  us  at  this  time  study  the  state 
in  respect  to  those  characteristics  which  it  has 
brought  over  from  its  youthful  stages. 

Its  form  still  continues  to  be  domination,  its 
content  still  remains  the  exploitation  of  the 


258  THE  STATE 

economic  means.  The  latter  continues  to  be 
limited  by  public  law,  which  on  the  one  hand 
protects  the  traditional  "distribution"  of  the 
total  products  of  the  nation ;  while  on  the  other 
it  attempts  to  maintain  at  their  full  efficiency 
the  taxpayers  and  those  bound  to  render  serv- 
ice. The  internal  policy  of  the  state  continues 
to  revolve  in  the  path  prescribed  for  it  by  the 
parallelogram  of  the  centrifugal  force  of  class 
contests  and  the  centripetal  impulse  of  the  com- 
mon interests  in  the  state;  and  its  foreign  pol- 
icy continues  to  be  determined  by  the  interests 
of  the  master  class,  now  comprising  besides  the 
landed  also  the  moneyed  interests. 

In  princii)le,  there  are  now,  as  before,  only 
two  classes  to  be  distinguished:  one  a  ruling 
class,  which  acquires  more  of  the  total  product 
of  the  labor  of  the  people — the  economic  means 
— than  it  has  contributed,  and  a  subject  class, 
which  obtains  less  of  the  resultant  wealth  than 
it  has  contributed.  Each  of  these  classes,  in 
turn,  depending  on  the  degree  of  economic  de- 
velopment, is  divided  into  more  or  fewer  sub- 
classes or  strata,  which  grade  off  according  to 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     259 

the  fortune  or  misfortune  of  their  economic 
standards. 

Among  highly  developed  states  there  is 
found  introduced  between  the  two  prmcipal 
classes  a  transitional  class,  which  also  may  be 
subdivided  into  various  strata.  Its  members 
are  bound  to  render  service  to  the  upper  class, 
while  they  are  entitled  to  receive  service  from 
the  classes  below  them.  To  illustrate  w^ith  an 
example,  we  find  in  the  ruling  class  in  modern 
Germany  at  least  three  strata.  First  come 
the  great  landed  magnates,  who  at  the  same 
time  are  the  principal  shareholders  in  the 
larger  nidustrial  undertakings  and  mining  com- 
j)anies:  next  stand  the  captains  of  industry 
and  the  *'bankocrats,"  who  also  in  many  cases 
have  become  owners  of  great  estates.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  they  quickly  amalgamate  w^ith 
the  first  layer.  Such,  for  example,  are  the 
Princes  Fugger,  who  were  formerly  bankers  of 
Augsburg,  and  the  Counts  of  Donnersmarck, 
owners  of  extensive  mines  in  Silesia.  And 
finally  there  are  the  petty  country  nobles,  whom 
we  shall  hereafter  term  junker  or  "squires." 


260  THE  STATE 

The  subject  class,  at  all  events,  consists  of  petty 
peasants,  agricultural  laborers,  factory  and 
mine  hands,  with  small  artisans  and  subordi- 
nate oiBcials.  The  "middle  classes''  are  the 
classes  of  the  transition:  composed  of  the 
owners  of  large  and  medium-sized  farms,  the 
small  manufacturers,  and  the  best  paid  me- 
chanics, besides  those  rich  "bourgeois,"  such  as 
Jews,  who  have  not  become  rich  enough  to  over- 
come certain  traditional  difficulties  which  op- 
pose their  arrival  at  the  stage  of  intermarriage 
with  the  upper  class.  All  these  render  unre- 
quited service  to  the  upper  class,  and  receive 
unrequited  service  from  the  lower  classes. 
This  determines  the  result  which  occurs  either 
to  the  stratum  as  a  whole  or  to  the  individuals 
in  it;  that  is  to  say,  either  a  complete  accept- 
ance into  the  upper  class,  or  an  absolute  sink- 
ing into  the  lower  class.  Of  the  (German) 
transitional  classes,  the  large  farmers  and  the 
manufacturers  of  average  wealth  have  risen, 
while  the  majority  of  artisans  have  descended 
to  the  lower  classes.  We  have  thus  arrived  at 
the  kinetics  of  classes. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     261 

The  interests  of  every  class  set  in  motion  an 
actual  body  of  associated  forces,  which  impel 
it  with  a  definite  momentmn  toward  the  attain- 
ment of  a  definite  goal.  All  classes  whatever 
have  the  same  goal ;  viz.,  the  total  result  of  the 
productive  labor  of  all  the  denizens  of  a  given 
state.  Every  class  attempts  to  obtain  as  large 
a  share  as  possible  of  the  national  production; 
and  since  all  strive  for  identically  the  same  ob- 
ject, the  class  contest  results.  This  contest  of 
classes  is  the  content  of  all  history  of  states, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  interest  of  the  state  as 
a  whole  produces  common  actions.  These  we 
may  at  this  point  disregard,  since  they  have 
been  given  undue  prominence  by  the  traditional 
method  of  historical  study,  and  lead  to  one- 
sided views.  Historically  this  class  contest  is 
shown  to  be  a  party  fight.  A  party  is  origin 
nally  and  in  its  essence  nothing  save  an  or- 
ganized representation  of  a  class.  Wherever 
a  class,  by  reason  of  social  differentiation,  has 
split  up  into  numerous  sub-classes  with  varied 
separate  interests,  the  party  claiming  to  repre- 
sent it  disintegrates  at  the  earliest  opportunity 


262  THE  STATE 

into  a  mass  of  tiny  parties,  and  these  will  either 
be  allies  or  mortal  enemies  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  divergence  of  the  class  interests. 
Where  on  the  other  hand  a  former  class  con- 
trast has  disappeared  by  social  differentiation, 
the  two  former  parties  amalgamate  in  a  short 
time  into  a  new  party.  As  an  example  of  the 
first  case  we  may  recall  the  splitting  off  of  the 
artisans  and  Anti-Semite  parties  from  the 
party  of  German  Liberalism,  as  a  consequence 
of  the  fact  that  the  first  represented  descend- 
ing groups,  while  the  latter  represented  ascend- 
ing ones.  A  characteristic  example  of  the 
second  category  may  be  found  in  the  political 
amalgamation  which  bound  together  into  the 
farmers'  union  the  petty  landed  squires  of  the 
East  Elbian  country  with  West  Elbian  rich 
peasants  on  large  plantations.  Since  the  petty 
squire  sinks  and  the  farmer  rises,  they  meet 
half-way.  All  party  policy  can  have  but  one 
meaning,  viz.,  to  procure  for  the  class  repre- 
sented as  great  a  share  as  is  possible  of  the  total 
national  production.     In  other  words,  the  pre- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     263 

f  erred  classes  intend  to  maintain  their  share,  at 
the  very  least,  at  the  ancient  scale,  and  if  pos- 
sible, to  increase  it  toward  such  a  maximum 
as  shall  permit  the  exploited  classes  just  a  bare 
existence,  to  keep  them  fit  to  do  their  work, 
just  as  in  the  bee-keeper  stages.  Their  object 
is  to  confiscate  the  entire  surplus  product  of  the 
economic  means,  a  surplus  which  increases 
enormously  as  population  becomes  more  dense 
and  division  of  labor  more  specialized.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  group  of  exploited  classes 
would  like  to  reduce  their  tribute  to  the  zero- 
point,  and  to  consume  the  entire  product  them- 
selves ;  and  the  transitional  classes  work  as  much 
as  possible  toward  the  reduction  of  their  tribute 
to  the  upper  classes,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
strive  to  increase  their  unrequited  income  from 
the  classes  underneath. 

This  is  the  aim  and  the  content  of  all  party 
contests.     The  ruling  class  conducts  this  fight 
with  all  those  means  which  its  acquired  do- 
minion has  handed  down  to  it.     In  conse- 
quence of  this,  the  ruling  class  sees  to  it  that 


264  THE  STATE 

legislation  is  framed  in  its  interest  and  to  serve 
its  purpose — class  legislation.  These  laws  are 
then  applied  in  such  wise  that  the  blunted  back 
of  the  sword  of  justice  is  turned  upward,  while 
its  sharpened  edge  is  turned  downward — class 
justice.  The  governing  class  in  every  state 
uses  the  administration  of  the  state  in  the  in- 
terest of  those  belonging  to  it  under  a  twofold 
aspect.  In  the  first  place  it  reserves  to  its 
adherents  all  prominent  places  and  all  offices 
of  influence  and  of  profit,  in  the  army,  in  the 
superior  branches  of  government  service,  and 
in  places  on  the  bench ;  and  secondly,  by  these 
very  agencies,  it  directs  the  entire  policy  of  the 
state,  causes  its  class-poHtics  to  bring  about 
commercial  wars,  colonial  policies,  protective 
tariffs,  legislation  in  some  degree  improving 
the  conditions  of  the  laboring  classes,  electoral 
reform  policies,  etc.  As  long  as  the  nobles 
ruled  the  state,  they  exploited  it  as  they  would 
have  managed  an  estate ;  when  the  bourgeoisie 
obtain  the  mastery,  the  state  is  exploited  as 
though  it  were  a  factory.  And  the  class-re- 
ligion covers  all  defects,  as  long  as  they  can  be 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     265 

endured,  with  its  "don't  touch  the  foundation 
of  society." 

There  still  exist  in  the  public  law  a  number 
of  political  privileges  and  economic  strategic 
positions,  which  favor  the  master  class :  such  as, 
in  Prussia,  a  system  of  voting  which  gives  the 
plutocrats  an  undue  advantage  over  the  less 
favored  classes,  a  limitation  of  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  free  assembly,  regulations  for 
servants,  etc.  For  that  reason,  the  constitu- 
tional fight,  carried  on  over  thousands  of  years 
and  dominating  the  life  of  the  state,  is  still  un- 
completed. The  fight  for  improved  conditions 
of  life,  another  phase  of  the  party  and  class 
struggle,  usually  takes  place  in  the  halls  of 
legislative  bodies,  but  often  it  is  carried  on  by 
means  of  demonstrations  in  the  streets,  by  gen- 
eral strikes,  or  by  open  outbreaks. 

But  the  plebs  have  finally  and  definitely 
learned  that  these  remnants  of  feudal  strategic 
centers,  do  not,  except  in  belated  instances, 
constitute  the  final  stronghold  of  their  op- 
ponents. It  is  not  in  political,  but  rather  in 
economic  conditions  that  the  cause  must  be 


266  TIIE  STATE 

sought,  which  has  brought  it  about  that  even  in 
the  modern  constitutional  state,  the  "distribu- 
tion of  wealth"  has  not  been  changed  in  princi- 
ple. Just  as  in  feudal  times,  the  great  mass  of 
men  live  in  bitter  povertj^;  even  under  the 
best  conditions,  they  have  the  meager  neces- 
sities of  life,  earned  by  hard,  crushing,  stupe- 
fying forced  labor,  no  longer  exacted  by  right 
of  political  exploitation,  but  just  as  effectively 
forced  from  the  laborers  by  their  economic 
needs.  And  jujst  as  before  in  the  un-reformed 
days,  the  narrow  minority,  a  new  master  class, 
a  conglomerate  of  holders  of  ancient  privileges 
and  of  newly  rich,  gathers  in  the  tribute,  now 
grown  to  immensity;  and  not  only  does  not 
render  any  service  therefor,  but  flaunts  its 
wealth  in  the  face  of  labor  by  riotous  living. 
The  class  contest  henceforth  is  devoted  more 
and  more  to  these  economic  causes,  based  on 
vicious  systems  of  distribution;  and  it  takes 
shape  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  between  ex- 
ploiters and  proletariat,  carried  on  by  strikes, 
cooperative  societies  and  trades  unions.  The 
economic  organization  first  forces  recognition, 
and  then  equal  rights ;  then  it  leads  and  finally 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     267 

controls  the  political  destinies  of  the  labor 
party.  In  the  end  therefore  the  trade  union 
controls  the  party.  Thus  far  the  development 
of  the  state  has  progressed  in  Great  Britain 
and  in  the  United  States. 

Were  it  not  that  there  has  been  added  to  the 
modern  state  an  entirely  new  element,  its 
officialdom,  the  constitutional  state,  though 
more  finely  differentiated  and  more  power- 
fully integrated,  would,  so  far  as  form  and 
content  go,  be  little  different  from  its  proto- 
types. 

As  a  matter  of  prmciple,  the  state  officials,  > 
paid  from  the  funds  of  the  state,  are  removed 
from  the  economic  fights  of  conflicting  inter- 
ests; and  therefore  it  is  rightly  considered  un- 
becoming for  any  one  in  the  service  of  the 
government  to  be  taking  part  in  any  money 
making  undertaking,  and  in  no  well  ordered 
bureaucracy  is  it  tolerated.  Were  it  possible  ^ 
ever  thoroughly  to  realize  the  principle,  and 
did  not  every  official,  even  the  best  of  them, 
bring  with  him  that  concept  of  the  state  held  by 
the  class  from  which  he  originated,  one  would 
find  in  officialdom,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that 


268  THE  STATE 

moderating  and  order  making  force,  removed 
from  the  conflict  of  class  interests,  whereby  the 
state  might  be  led  toward  its  new  goal.  It 
would  become  the  fulcrum  of  Archimedes 
whence  the  world  of  the  state  might  be  moved. 

But  the  principle,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  can 
not  be  carried  out  completely;  and  further- 
more, the  officials  do  not  cease  being  real  men, 
do  not  become  mere  abstractions  without  class- 
consciousness.  This  may  be  quite  apart  from 
the  fact  that,  in  Europe  at  least,  a  participa- 
tion in  a  definite  form  of  undertakings — viz., 
handling  large  landed  estates — is  regarded  as 
a  favorable  means  of  getting  on  in  the  service 
of  the  state,  and  will  continue  to  be  so  as  long 
as  the  landed  nobility  preponderates.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  many  officials  on  the  Con- 
tinent, and  one  may  even  say  the  most  influ- 
ential officials,  are  subject  to  pressure  by 
enormous  economic  interests;  and  are  uncon- 
sciously, and  often  against  their  will,  brought 
into  the  class  contests. 

There  are  factors,  such  as  extra  allowances 
made  by  either  fathers  or  fathers-in-law,  or 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     269 

hereditary  estates,  and  affinity  to  the  persons 
in  control  of  the  landed  and  moneyed  interest 
or  alhed  with  them,  whereby  the  solidarity  of 
interest  among  the  ruling  class  is  if  anything 
increased  from  the  fact  that  these  officials, 
practically  without  exception,  are  taken  from 
a  class  with  whom  since  their  boyhood  days 
they  have  been  on  terms  of  intimacy.  Were 
there,  however,  no  such  unity  of  economic  in- 
terests the  demeanor  of  the  officials  would  be 
influenced  entirely  by  the  pure  interests  of  the 
state. 

For  this  reason,  as  a  rule,  the  most  efficient, 
most  objective  and  most  impartial  set  of 
officials  is  found  in  poor  states.  Prussia,  for 
example,  w^as  formerly  indebted  to  its  poverty 
for  that  incomparable  body  of  officials  who 
handled  it  through  all  its  troubles.  These  em- 
ployees of  the  state  were  actually,  in  conso- 
nance with  the  rule  laid  down  above,  dissociated 
completely  from  all  interests  in  money  making, 
directly  or  indirectly. 

This  ideal  body  of  officials  is  a  rare  occur- 
rence in  the  more  wealthy  states.     The  pluto- 


270  THE  STATE 

cratic  development  draws  the  individual  more 
and  more  into  its  vortex,  robbing  him  of  his  ob- 
jectivity and  of  his  impartiality.  And  yet  the 
officials  continue  to  fulfil  the  duty  which  the 
modern  state  requires  of  them,  to  preserve  the 
interests  of  the  state  as  opposed  to  the  inter- 
ests of  any  class.  And  this  interest  is  pre- 
served by  them,  even  though  against  their  will, 
or  at  least  without  clear  consciousness  of  the 
fact,  in  such  manner  that  the  economic  means, 
which  called  the  bureaucracy  into  being,  is  in 
the  end  advanced  on  its  tedious  path  of  vic- 
tory, as  against  the  political  means.  No  one 
doubts  that  the  officials  carry  on  class  politics, 
prescribed  for  them  by  the  constellation  of 
forces  operating  in  the  state;  and  to  that  ex- 
tent, they  certainly  do  represent  the  master 
class  from  which  they  sprang.  But  they  do 
ameliorate  the  bitterness  of  the  struggle,  by  op- 
posing the  extremists  in  either  camp,  and  by 
advocating  amendments  to  existing  law,  when 
the  social  development  has  become  ripened  for 
their  enactment,  without  waiting  until  the  con- 
test over  these  has  become  acute.     Where  an 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE     271 

efficient  race  of  princes  governs,  whose  mo- 
mentary representative  adopts  the  pohcy  of 
King  Frederick,  which  was  to  regard  himself 
only  as  "the  first  servant  of  the  state,"  what  has 
been  said  above  applies  to  him  in  an  increased 
degree,  all  the  more  so  as  his  interests,  as  the 
permanent  beneficiary  of  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  the  state,  would  before  all  else  prompt 
him  to  strengthen  the  centripetal  forces  and  to 
weaken  the  centrifugal  powers.  In  the  course 
of  the  preceding  we  have  in  many  instances 
noted  the  natural  solidarity  between  prince 
and  people,  as  an  historic  force  of  great  value. 
In  the  completed  constitutional  state,  in  which 
the  monarch  in  but  an  infinitesimally  small  de- 
gree is  a  subject  of  private  economic  interests, 
he  tends  to  be  almost  completely  "an  official." 
This  community  of  interests  is  emphasized  here 
much  more  strongly  than  in  either  the  feudal 
state  or  the  despotically  governed  state,  w^here 
the  dominion,  at  least  for  one-half  its  extent,  is 
based  on  the  private  economic  interests  of  the 
prince. 

Even  in  a  constitutional  state,  the  outer  form 


272  THE  STATE 

of  government  is  not  the  decisive  factor;  the 
fight  of  the  classes  is  carried  on  and  leads  to 
the  same  result  in  a  republic  as  in  a  monarchy. 
In  spite  of  this,  it  must  be  admitted  that  there 
is  more  probability,  that,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  curve  of  development  of  the  state  in 
a  monarchy  will  be  more  sweeping,  with  less 
secondary  incurvity,  because  the  prince  is  less 
affected  by  momentary  losses  of  popularity,  is 
not  so  sensitive  to  momentary  gusts  of  disap- 
proval, as  is  a  president  elected  for  a  short 
term  of  years,  and  he  can  therefore  shape  his 
policies  for  longer  periods  of  time. 

We  must  not  fail  to  mention  a  special  form 
of  officialdom,  the  scientific  staffs  of  the  uni- 
versities, whose  influence  on  the  upward  de- 
velopment of  the  state  must  not  be  underesti- 
mated. Not  only  is  this  a  creation  of  the 
economic  means,  as  were  the  officials  them- 
selves, but  it  at  the  same  time  represents  an 
historical  force,  the  need  of  causality,  which 
we  found  heretofore  only  as  an  ally  of  the  con- 
quering state.  We  saw  that  this  need  created 
superstition  while  the  state  was  on  a  primitive 


CONSTITUTIONAL  STATE      273 

stage;  its  bastard,  the  taboo,  we  found  in  all 
cases  to  be  an  effective  means  of  control  by 
the  master  class.  From  these  same  needs  then, 
science  was  developed,  attacking  and  destroy- 
ing superstition,  and  thereby  assisting  in 
preparation  of  the  path  of  evolution.  That  is 
the  incalculable  historical  service  of  science  and 
especially  of  the  universities. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  TENDENCY  OF  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE 
STATE 

We  have  endeavored  to  discover  the  de- 
velopment of  the  state  from  its  most  remote 
past  up  to  present  times,  following  its  course 
like  an  explorer,  from  its  source  down  the 
streams  to  its  effluence  in  the  plains.  Broad 
and  powerfully  its  waves  roll  by,  until  it  dis- 
appears into  the  mist  of  the  horizon,  into  un- 
explored and,  for  the  present-day  observer,  un- 
discoverable  regions. 

Just  as  broadly  and  powerfully  the  stream  of 
history — and  until  the  present  day  all  history 
has  been  the  history  of  states — rolls  past  our 
view,  and  the  course  thereof  is  covered  by  the 
blanketing  fogs  of  the  future.  Shall  we  dare 
to  set  up  hypotheses  concerning  the  future 
course,  until  "with  unrestrained  joy  he  sinks 
into  the  arms  of  his  waiting,  expectant  father"? 

2T4. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     275 

(Goethe's  Prometheus.)  Is  it  possible  to  es- 
tablish a  scientifically  founded  prognosis  in 
regard  to  the  future  development  of  the  state? 

I  believe  in  this  possibility.  The  tend- 
ency ^^^  of  state  development  unmistakably 
leads  to  one  point:  seen  in  its  essentials  the 
state  will  cease  to  be  the  "developed  political 
means"  and  will  become  "a  freemen's  citizen- 
ship." In  other  words,  its  outer  shell  will 
remain  in  essentials  the  form  which  was  de- 
veloped in  the  constitutional  state,  under  which 
the  administration  will  be  carried  on  by  an 
officialdom.  But  the  content  of  the  states  here- 
tofore known  will  have  changed  its  vital  ele- 
ment by  the  disappearance  of  the  economic  ex- 
ploitation of  one  class  by  another.  And  since 
the  state  will,  by  this,  come  to  be  without  either 
classes  or  class  interests,  the  bureaucracy  of 
the  future  will  truly  have  attained  that  ideal 
of  the  impartial  guardian  of  the  common  in- 
terests, which  nowadays  it  laboriously  at- 
tempts to  reach.  The  "state"  of  the  future 
will  be  "society"  guided  by  self-government. 

Libraries  full  of  books  have  been  written 


276  THE  STATE 

on  the  delimitation  of  the  concepts  "state"  and 
"society."  The  problem,  however,  from  our 
point  of  view  has  an  easy  solution.  The 
"state"  is  the  fully  developed  political  means, 
society  the  fully  developed  economic  means. 
Heretofore  state  and  society  were  indissolubly 
intertwined:  in  the  "freemen's  citizenship," 
there  will  be  no  "state"  but  only  "society." 

This  prognosis  of  the  future  development  of 
the  state  contains  by  inclusion  all  of  those  fa- 
mous f  ormulse,  whereby  the  great  philosophical 
historians  have  endeavored  to  determine  the 
"resulting  value"  of  universal  history.  It  con- 
tains the  "progress  from  warlike  activity  to 
peaceful  labor"  of  St.  Simon,  as  well  as 
Hegel's  ^'development  from  slavery  to  free- 
dom" ;  the  "evolution  of  humanity"  of  Herder, 
as  well  as  "the  penetration  of  reason  through 
nature"  of  Schleiermacher. 

Our  times  have  lost  the  glad  optimism  of  the  * 
classical  and  of  the  humanist  wi'iters ;  sociologie 
pessimism  rules  the  sj)irit  of  these  latter  days. 
The  prognosis  here  stated  can  not  as  yet  claim 
to  have  many  adherents.     Not  only  do  the  per- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     277 

sons  obtaining  the  profits  of  dominion,  thanks 
to  their  obsession  by  their  class  spirit,  regard 
it  as  an  incredible  concept ;  those  belonging  to 
the  subjugated  class  as  well  regard  it  with  the 
utmost  skepticism.  It  is  true  that  the  pro- 
letarian theory,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  pre- 
dicts identically  the  same  result.  But  the  ad- 
herents of  that  theory  do  not  believe  it  possible 
by  the  path  of  evolution  but  only  through  revo- 
lution. It  is  then  thought  of  as  a  picture  of  a 
"society"  varying  in  all  respects  from  that 
evolved  by  the  progress  of  history;  in  other 
words,  as  an  organization  of  the  economic 
means,  as  a  system  of  economics  without  com- 
petition and  market,  as  collectivism.  The  an- 
archistic theory  makes  form  and  content  of  the 
"state"  as  inseparable  as  heads  and  tails  of  the 
coin;  no  "government"  without  exploitation! 
It  would  therefore  smash  both  the  form  and 
the  content  of  the  state,  and  thus  bring  on  a 
condition  of  anarchy,  even  if  thereby  all  the 
economic  advantages  of  a  division  of  labor 
should  have  to  be  sacrificed.  Even  so  great 
a  thinker  as  the  late  Ludwig  Gumplowicz,  who 


278  THE  STATE 

first  laid  the  foundation  on  wliich  the  present 
theory  of  the  state  has  been  developed,  is  a 
sociological  pessimist ;  and  from  the  same  rea- 
sons as  are  the  anarchists,  whom  he  combated 
so  violently.  He  too  regards  as  eternally  in- 
separable form  and  content,  government  and 
class-exploitation;  since  he  however,  and  I 
think  correctly,  does  not  consider  it  possible 
that  many  people  may  live  together  without 
some  coercive  force  vested  in  some  government, 
he  declares  the  class-state  to  be  an  "immanent" 
and  not  only  an  historical  category. 

Only  a  small  fraction  of  social  liberals,  or  of 
liberal  socialists,  believe  in  the  evolution  of  a 
society  without  class  dominion  and  class  ex- 
ploitation which  shall  guarantee  to  the  indi- 
vidual, besides  political,  also  economic  liberty 
of  movement,  within  of  course  the  limitations 
of  the  economic  means.  That  was  the  credo 
of  the  old  social  liberalism,  of  pre-Manchester 
days,  enunciated  by  Quesnay  and  especially 
by  Adam  Smith,  and  again  taken  up  in  mod- 
em times  by  Henry  George  and  Theodore 
Hertzka. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     279 

This  prognosis  may  be  substantiated  in  two 
ways,  one  through  history  and  philosophy,  the 
other  by  poUtical  economy,  as  a  tendency  of  the 
development  of  the  state,  and  as  a  tendency  of 
the  evolution  of  economics,  both  clearly  tend- 
ing toward  one  point. 

The  tendency  of  the  development  of  the 
state  was  shown  in  the  preceding  as  a  steady 
and  victorious  combat  of  economic  means 
against  political  means.  We  saw  that,  in  the 
beginning,  the  right  to  the  economic  means, 
the  right  to  equality  and  to  peace,  was  re- 
stricted to  the  tiny  circle  of  the  horde 
bound  together  by  ties  of  blood,  an  en- 
dowment from  pre-human  conditions  of  so- 
ciety ;^^^  wliile  without  the  limits  of  this  isle  of 
peace  raged  the  typhoon  of  the  political  means. 
But  we  saw  expanding  more  and  more  the  cir- 
cles from  which  the  laws  of  peace  crowded  out 
their  adversary,  and  everywhere  we  saw  their 
advance  connected  with  the  advance  of  the 
economic  means,  of  the  barter  of  groups  for 
equivalents,  amongst  one  another.  The  first 
exchange  may  have  been  the  exchange  of  fire. 


280  THE  STATE 

then  the  barter  of  women,  and  finally  the  ex- 
change of  goods,  the  domain  of  peace  con- 
stantly extending  its  borders.  It  protected  the 
market  places,  then  the  streets  leading  to  them, 
and  finally  it  protected  the  merchants  traveling 
on  these  streets. 

In  the  course  of  this  discussion  it  was  shown 
how  the  "state"  absorbed  and  developed  these 
organizations  making  for  peace,  and  how  in 
consequence  these  drive  back  ever  further  right 
based  on  mere  might.  Merchants'  law  be- 
comes city  law;  the  industrial  city,  the  de- 
veloped economic  means,  undermines  the  feudal 
state,  the  developed  political  means;  and 
finally  the  civic  population,  in  open  fight,  an- 
nihilates the  political  remnants  of  the  feudal 
state,  and  re-conquers  for  the  entire  population 
of  the  state  freedom  and  right  to  equality, 
urban  law  becomes  public  law  and  finally  in- 
ternational law. 

Furthermore,  on  no  horizon  can  be  seen  any 
force  now  capable  of  resisting  effectively  this 
heretofore  efficient  tendency.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  interference  of  the  past,  which  tern- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     281 

porarily  blocked  the  process,  is  obviously 
becoming  weaker  and  weaker.  The  interna- 
tional relations  of  commerce  and  trade  acquired 
among  the  nations  a  preponderating  impor- 
tance over  the  diminishing  warlike  and  j)oliti- 
cal  relations;  and  in  the  intra-national  sphere, 
by  reason  of  the  same  process  of  economic  de- 
velopment, movable  capital,  the  creation  of  the 
right  to  peace,  preponderates  in  ever  increasing 
measure  over  landed  property  rights,  the  crea- 
tion of  the  right  of  war.  At  the  same  time 
superstition  more  and  more  loses  its  influence. 
And  therefore  one  is  justified  in  concluding 
that  the  tendency  so  marked  will  work  out  to 
its  logical  end,  excluding  the  political  means 
and  all  its  works,  until  the  complete  victory  of 
the  economic  means  is  attained. 

But  it  may  be  objected  that  in  the  modern 
constitutional  state  all  the  more  prominent 
remnants  of  the  antique  law  of  war  have  al- 
ready been  chiseled  out. 

On  the  contrary,  there  survives  a  considera- 
ble remnant  of  these  institutions,  masked  it  is 
true   in   economic   garb,    and   apparently   no 


282  THE  STATE 

longer  a  legal  privilege  but  only  economic 
right,  the  ownership  of  large  estates — the  first 
creation  and  the  last  stronghold  of  the  political 
means.  Its  mask  has  preserved  it  from  under- 
going the  fate  of  all  other  feudal  creations. 
And  yet  this  last  remnant  of  the  right  of  war 
is  doubtless  the  last  unique  obstacle  in  the  path- 
way of  humanity;  and  doubtless  the  develop- 
ment of  economics  is  on  its  way  to  destroy  it. 

To  substantiate  these  remarks  I  must  refer 
the  reader  to  other  books,  wherein  I  have  given 
the  detailed  evidence  of  the  above  and  can  not 
in  the  space  allotted  here  repeat  it  at  large. ^^^ 
I  can  only  re-state  the  principal  points  made 
in  these  books. 

There  is  no  difference  in  principle  between 
the  distribution  of  the  total  products  of  the 
economic  means  among  the  separate  classes  of 
a  constitutional  state,  the  so-called  "capitalistic 
distribution,"  from  that  prevailing  in  the  feudal 
state. 

All  the  more  important  economic  schools 
coincide  in  finding  the  cause  in  this,  that  the 
supply  of  '*free"  laborers  (i.  e.,  accordmg  to 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     283 

Karl  Marx  politically  free  and  economically 
without  capital)  perpetually  exceeds  the  de- 
mand, and  that  hence  there  exists  "the  social 
relation  of  capital."  There  "are  constantly 
two  laborers  running  after  one  master  for 
work,  and  lowering,  for  one  another,  the 
wages";  and  therefore  the  "surplus  value"  re- 
mains with  the  capitalist  class,  while  the  laborer 
never  gets  a  chance  to  form  capital  for  himself 
and  to  become  an  employer.- 

Whence  comes  this  surpkis  supply  of  free 
laborers? 

The  explanation  of  the  "bourgeois"  theory, 
according  to  which  this  surplus  supply  is 
caused  b}^  the  overproduction  of  children  by 
proletarian  parents,  is  based  on  a  logical 
fallacy,  and  is  contradicted  by  all  known 
facts.''' 

The  explanation  of  the  proletarian  theory 
according  to  which  the  capitalistic  process  of 
production  itself  produces  the  "free  laborers," 
by  setting  up  again  and  again  new  labor-saving 
machines,  is  also  based  on  a  logical  fallacy  and 
is  likewise  contradicted  by  all  known  facts.'*' 


2S4i  THE  STATE 

The  evidence  of  all  facts  shows  rather,  and 
the  conclusion  may  be  deduced  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  the  overswpioly  of  ''free  la- 
borers"  is  descended  from  the  right  of  holding 
landed  property  in  large  estates;  and  that  emi- 
gration into  towns  and  oversea  from  these 
landed  properties  are  the  causes  of  the  capital- 
istic distribution. 

Doubtless  there  is  a  growing  tendency  in 
economic  development  whereby  the  ruin  of  vast 
landed  estates  will  be  accomplished.  The  sys- 
tem is  their  bleeding  to  death,  without  hope  of 
salvation,  caused  by  the  freedom  of  the  former 
serfs — the  necessary  consequence  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  cities.  As  soon  as  the  peas- 
ants had  obtained  the  right  of  moving  about 
without  their  landlords'  passport  (German 
Freizuegigkeit) ,  there  developed  the  chance 
of  escape  from  the  countries  which  formerly 
oppressed  them.  The  system  of  emigration 
created  "the  competition  from  oversea,"  to- 
gether with  the  fall,  on  the  Continent,  of  prices 
for  farm  products,  and  made  necessary  per- 
petually rising  wages.     By  these  two  factors 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     285 

ground  rent  is  reduced  from  two  sides,  and 
must  gradually  sink  to  the  zero  point,  since 
here  too  no  counterforce  is  to  be  recognized 
whereby  the  process  might  be  diverted.^^^ 
Thus  the  system  of  vast  territorial  estates  falls 
apart.  When,  however,  it  has  disappeared, 
there  can  be  no  oversupply  of  "free  laborers." 
On  the  contrary  "two  masters  will  run  after 
one  laborer  and  must  raise  the  price  on  them- 
selves." There  will  be  no  "surplus  value"  for 
the  capitalist  class,  because  the  laborer  himself 
can  form  capital  and  himself  become  an  em- 
ployer. By  this  the  last  remaining  vestige  of 
the  political  means  will  have  been  destroyed, 
and  economic  means  alone  will  exercise  sway. 
The  content  of  such  a  society  is  the  "pure  eco- 
nomics" ^^^  of  the  equivalent  exchange  of  com- 
modities against  commodities,  or  of  labor  force 
against  commodities,  and  the  political  form  of 
this  society  will  be  the  "freemen's  citizenship." 
This  theoretical  deduction  is  moreover  con- 
firmed by  the  escperience  of  history.  Wher- 
ever there  existed  a  society  in  which  vast  es- 
tates did  not  exist  to  draw  an  increasing  rental, 


286  THE  STATE 

there  *'pure  economics"  existed,  and  society 
approximated  the  form  of  the  state  to  that  of 
the  "freemen's  citizenship." 

Such  a  commmiity  was  found  in  the  Ger- 
many of  the  four  centuries  ^^^  from  about  A.  D. 
1000,  when  the  primitive  system  of  vast  estates 
was  developed  into  the  socially  harmless  do- 
minion over  vast  territories,  until  about  the 
year  1400,  when  the  newly  arisen  great  prop- 
erties, created  by  the  political  means,  the  rob- 
ber wars  in  the  countries  formerly  Slavic,  shut 
the  settlers  from  the  westward  out  of  lands 
eastward  of  the  Elbe/^^  Such  a  community 
was  the  Mormon  state  of  Utah,  which  has  not 
been  greatly  changed  in  this  respect,  where  a 
wise  land  legislation  permitted  only  small  and 
moderate  sized  farm  holdings.^^^  Such  a  com- 
munity was  to  be  found  in  the  city  and  county 
of  Vineland,  Iowa,  U.  S.  A.,^^^  as  long  as  every 
settler  could  obtain  land,  without  increment  of 
rent.  Such  a  commonwealth  is,  beyond  all 
others,  New  Zealand,  whose  government  favors 
with  all  its  power  the  possession  of  small  and 
middle-sized  holdings  of  land,  while  at  the  same 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     287 

time  it  narrows  and  dissolves,  by  all  means  at 
its  command  the  great  landed  properties,  which 
by  the  way,  owing  to  lack  of  surplus  laborers, 
are  almost  incapable  of  producing  rentals/^^ 

In  all  these  cases  there  is  an  astoundingly 
equalized  well-being,  not  perhaps  mechanically 
equal;  but  there  is  no  wealth.  Because  well- 
being  is  the  control  over  articles  of  consump- 
Hon,  while  wealth  is  the  dominion  over 
manhind.  In  no  such  cases  are  the  means  of 
production,  "capital,"  "producing  any  surplus 
values";  there  are  no  "free  laborers"  and  no 
capitalism,  and  the  political  form  of  these  com- 
munities approximates  very  closely  to  a  "free- 
men's citizenship,"  and  tends  to  approximate 
it  more  and  more,  so  far  as  the  pressure  of 
the  surrounding  states,  organized  from  and 
based  on  the  laws  of  war,  permit  its  develop- 
ment. The  "state"  decomposes,  or  else  in 
new  countries  such  as  Utah  or  New  Zealand, 
it  returns  to  a  rudimentary  stage  of  develop- 
ment; while  the  free  self-determination  of 
free  men,  scarcely  acquainted  with  a  class  fight, 
constantly  tends  to  pierce  through  ever  more 


288  THE  STATE 

thoroughly.  Thus  in  the  German  Empire 
there  was  a  parallel  development  between  the 
political  rise  of  the  unions  of  the  imperial  free 
cities,  the  decline  of  the  feudal  states,  the 
emancipation  of  the  crafts,  then  still  com- 
prising the  entire  "plebs"  of  the  cities,  and 
the  decay  of  the  patrician  control  of  the  city 
government.  This  beneficent  development 
was  stopped  by  the  erection  of  new  primitive 
feudal  states  on  the  easterly  border  of  the 
former  German  Empire,  and  thus  the  economic 
blossom  of  German  culture  was  ruined.  Who- 
ever believes  in  a  conscious  purpose  in  history 
may  say  that  the  human  race  was  again  re- 
quired to  pass  through  another  school  of  suf- 
fering before  it  could  be  redeemed.  The 
Middle  Ages  had  discovered  the  system  of  free 
labor,  but  had  not  developed  it  to  its  full  ca- 
pacity or  efficiency.  It  was  reserved  for  the 
new  slavery  of  capitalism  to  discover  and  de- 
velop the  incomparably  more  efficient  system  of 
cooperating  labor,  the  division  of  labor  in  the 
workshops,  in  order  to  crown  man  as  the  ruler 
of   natural    forces,    as    king   of   the   planet. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  STATE     289 

Slavery  of  antiquity  and  of  modern  capitalism 
was  once  necessary;  now  it  has  become  super- 
fluous. According  to  the  story,  every  free 
citizen  of  Athens  disposed  of  five  human 
slaves ;  but  we  have  supplied  to  our  fellow  citi- 
zens of  modern  society  a  vast  mass  of  enslaved 
power,  slaves  of  steel,  that  do  not  suffer  in  cre- 
ating values.  Since  then  we  have  ripened 
toward  a  civilization  as  much  higher  than  the 
civilization  of  the  time  of  Pericles,  as  the  popu- 
lation, power  and  riches  of  the  modern  com- 
munities exceeds  those  of  the  tiny  state  of 
Athens. 

Athens  was  doomed  to  dissolution — by  rea- 
son of  slavery  as  an  economic  institution,  by 
reason  of  the  political  means.  Having  once 
entered  that  pathway,  there  was  no  outlet  ex- 
cept death  to  the  population.  Our  path  will 
lead  to  life. 

The  same  conclusion  is  found  by  either  the 
historical-philosophical  view,  which  took  into 
account  the  tendency  of  the  development  of  the 
state,  or  the  study  of  political  economy,  which 
regards  the  tendency  of  economic  develop- 


290  THE  STATE 

ment;  viz.,  that  the  economic  means  wins  along 
the  whole  line,  while  the  political  means  dis- 
appears from  the  life  of  society,  in  that  one  of 
its  creations,  which  is  most  ancient  and  most 
tenacious  of  life;  capitalism  decays  with  large 
landed  estates  and  ground  rentals. 

This  has  been  the  path  of  suffering  and  of 
salvation  of  humanity,  its  Golgotha  and  its 
resurrection  into  an  eternal  kingdom — from 
war  to  peace,  from  the  hostile  splitting  up  of 
the  hordes  to  the  peaceful  unity  of  mankind, 
from  brutality  to  humanity,  from  the  exploit- 
ing State  of  robbery  to  the  Freemen's  Citizen- 
ship. 


NOTES 


NOTES 

1.  "History  is  unable  to  demonstrate  any  one  people, 
wherein  the  first  traces  of  division  of  labor  and  of  agri- 
culture do  not  coincide  with  such  agricultural  exploita- 
tions, wherein  the  efforts  of  labor  were  not  apportioned 
to  one  and  the  fruits  of  labor  were  not  appropriated  by 
some  one  else,  wherein,  in  other  words,  the  division  of 
labor  had  not  developed  itself  as  the  subjection  of  one 
set  under  the  others." — Robertus-Jagetzow,  Illumination 
on  the  social  question,  second  edition.  Berlin,  1890,  p. 
124.  (Cf.  Immigration  and  Labor.  The  economic 
aspects  of  European  Immigration  to  the  United  States, 
by  Dr.  Isaac  A.  Hourwich.  Putnam's,  N.  Y.,  1912. — 
Translator.) 

2.  Achelis,  Die  EJcstase  in  ihrer  Jculturellen  Bedeu- 
tung,  vol.  1  of  Kulturprobleme  der  Gegentcart,  Berlin, 
1902. 

3.  Grosse,  Formen  der  Familie.  Freiburg  and  Leip- 
zig, 1896,  p.  39. 

4.  Ratzel,  Vblherhunde.  Second  Edition.  Leipzig 
and  Wien,  1894-5,  II,  p.  372. 

5.  Die  Soziale  V  erf  as  sung  des  Inhareichs.  Stutt- 
gart, 1896,  p.  51. 

6.  Siedlung  und  Agrarwesen  der  Westgermanen,  etc, 
Berlin,  1895,  I,  p.  273. 

7.  L  c.  I,  p.  138. 

8.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  702. 

293 


294  THE  STATE 

9.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  555. 

10.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  555. 

11.  For  example  with  the  Ovambo  according  to  Ratzel, 
1.  c.  II,  p.  214,  who  in  part  "seem  to  be  found  in  slave- 
like status,"  and  according  to  Laveleye  among  the  an- 
cient Irish  (Fuidhirs). 

12.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  648. 

13.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  99. 

14.  Lippert,  Kulturgeschichte  der  Menschheit.  Stutt- 
gart, 1886,  II,  p.  302. 

15.  Lippert,  1.  c.  II,  p.  522. 

16.  Romische  Geschichte.  Sixth  Edition.  Berlin, 
1874,  I,  p.  17. 

17.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  518. 

18.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  425. 

19.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  545. 

20.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  390-1. 

21.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  390-1. 

22.  Lippert,  1.   c.    I,   p.   471. 

23.  Kulischer,  "The  history  of  the  development  of  in- 
terest from  capital."  Jahrbiicker  fur  National  (Ehon- 
omie.  III  series,  vol.  18,  p.  318,  Jena,  1899:  (Says 
Strabo:  "Plunderers  and  from  the  scant  supplies  of 
their  native  land  covetous  of  the  lands  of  others.") 

24.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  123. 

25.  Ratzel,  1.  e.  I,  p.  591. 

26.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  370. 

27.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  390-1. 

28.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  388-9. 

29.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  103-04. 

30.  Thurnwald,  Staat  und  Wirtschaft  im  altem 
Mgypten.  Zeitschrift  fiir  Sos.  Wissenchaft,  vol.  4 
1901,  pp.  700-01. 


NOTES  295 

31.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  11^  pp.  404-05.  (Gumplowicz,  Ras- 
senkampf,  p.  264:  *'Egypt,  rich  and  self-sufficient, 
says  Ranke,  invited  the  avarice  of  neighboring  tribes, 
who  served  other  gods.  Under  the  name  of  the  Shep- 
herd peoples,  foreign  dynasts  and  foreign  tribes  ruled 
Egypt  for  centuries. 

"Truly,  the  summary  of  universal  history  could  not 
be  begun  with  more  characteristic  words  than  those  of 
Ranke.  For  in  the  words  applied  to  Egypt  the  quintes- 
sence of  the  whole  history  of  mankind  is  summed  up." — 
Translator.) 

32.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  165. 

33.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  485. 

34.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  480. 

35.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  165. 

36.  Buhl,  Soziale   Verhdltnisse  der  Israeliten,  p.   13. 

37.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  455. 

38.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  628. 

39.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  625. 

40.  Cieza  de  Leon,  "Seg.  parte  de  la  cronica  del 
Peru."     P.  75,  cit.  by  Ciuiow,  Inkareich  (p.  62,  note  1). 

41.  Cunow,  1.  c.  p.  61. 

42.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  346. 

43.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  pp.  36-7. 

44.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  221.  (Cf.  remarks  by  Hon. 
A.  J.  Sabath,  M.  C,  Sociological  Argument  on  Work- 
man's Compensation  Bill,  p.  498,  Senate  Document 
338,  Sixty-second  Congress,  Second  Session,  Volume  I. 
See  also  Congressional  Record  for  March  1,  1913,  Sixty- 
second  Congress,  Third  Session,  pp.  4503,  4529,  et 
seq. — Translator.') 

45.  "Among  the  Wahuma  women  occupy  a  higher  posi- 


296  THE  STATE 

tion  than  among  the  negroes,  and  are  watched  carefully 
by  their  men.  This  makes  mixed  marriages  difficult. 
The  mass  of  the  Waganda  even  to-day  would  not  have 
remained  a  genuine  negro  tribe  'of  dark  chocolate  colored 
skin  and  short  wool  hair'  were  it  not  that  the  two  peoples 
are  strictly  opposed  to  one  another  as  peasants  and  herds- 
men, rulers  and  subjects,  as  despised  and  honored,  in 
spite  of  the  relations  entered  into  among  the  upper 
classes.  In  this  peculiar  position,  they  represent  a 
typical  phenomenon,  which  is  found  repeated  at  many 
other  points." — Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  177. 

46.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  178. 

47.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  198. 

48.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  476. 

49.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  453. 

50.  Kopp,  Griechische  Staatsaltertilmer,  2,  Aufl, 
Berlin,  1893,  p.  23. 

51.  Uhland,  Alte  hoch  und  niederdeutsche  Volkslieder 
I  (1844),  p.  339  cited  by  Sombart:  Der  moderne  Kapi- 
talismus,  Leipzig,  1902,  I,  pp.  384-5. 

52.  Inama-Sternegg,  Deutsche  Wirtsch.-Gesch,  I, 
Leipzig,  1879,  p.  59. 

53.  Westermarck,  History  of  Human  Marriage,  Lon- 
don, 1891,  p.  368. 

54.  Cf.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  81. 

55.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  156. 

56.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  259-60. 

57.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  434. 

58.  I.  Kulischer,  1.  c,  p.  317,  where  other  examples 
may  be  found. 

59.  Westermarck,    History    of    Human    Marriage,    p. 


NOTES  297 

400^    which    contains    a    number    of   ethnographical    ex- 
amples. 

60.  Westermarck,  1.  c,  p.  546. 

61.  Cf.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  318,  540. 

62.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  106. 

63.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  335. 

64.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  346. 

65.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  347. 

66.  Buecher,  Entstehung  der  Volhswirtschaft,  Second 
Edition,  Tiibingen,   1898,  p.  301. 

67.  Cf.,  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  271,  speaking  of  the 
islanders  of  the  Pacific  Ocean:  "Intercourse  from  tribe 
to  tribe  is  carried  on  by  inviolable  heralds,  preferably  old 
women.  These  act  also  as  intermediary  agents  in 
trades."  See  also  page  317  for  the  same  practises  among 
the  Australians. 

68.  German  Translation  by  L.  Katscher.  Leipzig, 
1907. 

69.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  81. 

70.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  478-9. 

71.  A.  Vierkandt,  Die  wirtscJiaftlichen  VerJidltnisse 
der  Naturvolher.  Zeitschrift  fur  Sozialwissenschaft, 
II,  pp.  177-8. 

72.  Kulischer,  1.  c.  pp.  320-1. 

73.  Lippert,  1.  c.  I,  p.  266,  et  s^q. 

74.  Cf.   Westermarck,   History   of  Human  Marriage. 

75.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  27. 

76.  Herodotus  IV,  23,  cited  by  Lippert,  1.  c.  I,  p. 
459. 

77.  Lippert,  1.  c.  II,  p.  170. 

78.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  I,  p.  139. 

79.  Similar   conditions   may    be   observed   among   the 


298  THE  STATE 

islanders  near  India.  Here  the  Malays  are  vikings. 
"Colonization  is  an  important  factor^  as  conquest  and 
settlement  oversea  .  .  .  reminding  one  of  the  great 
role  played  in  ancient  Hellas  by  the  roving  tribes.  .  .  . 
Every  strip  of  coast  line  shows  foreign  elements,  who 
enter  uncalled  for  and  in  most  instances  spreading  dam- 
age among  the  natives.  The  right  of  conquest  was 
granted  by  the  rulers  of  Tornate  to  noble  dynasts,  who 
later  on  fcecame  semi-sovereign  viceroys  on  the  islands  of 
Buru,  Serang,  etc." 

80.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  I,  p.  132. 

81.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  I,  p.  134. 

82.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  1,  p.  160. 

83.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  558. 

84.  Buhl,  1.  c,  p.  48. 

85.  Buhl,  1.  c,  pp.  78-79. 

86.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  II,  p.  406. 

87.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  191;  of.  also  pp.  207-8. 

88.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  363. 

89.  Mommsen,  1.  c,  p.  46. 

90.  Both  cited  by  Kulischer,  1.  c,  p.  319,  from: 
Buechsenschuetz,  Besitz  und  Erwerh  im  grieschischen 
Altertum;  and  Goldschmidt,  History  of  the  Law  of  Com- 
merce. 

91.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  263. 

92.  F.  Oppenheimer's  Gross grundeigentum  und  soziale 
Frage.     Book  Two,  Chapter  I.     Berlin,  1898. 

93.  Nomadism  is  exceptionally  characterized  by  the 
facility  with  which,  from  patriarchal  conditions,  despotic 
functions  are  developed  with  most  far-reaching  powers. 
Ratzel,  1.  c.  Vol.  II,  pp.  388-9. 

94.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  408. 


NOTES  299 

95.  Cunow,  1.  c.  pp.  66-7.  Similarly  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Malay  Islands  numerous  examples  are 
found  in  Radak  (Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  267). 

96.  Buhl,  1.  c,  p.  17. 

97.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  66, 

98.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  118. 

99.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  167. 

100.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  218. 

101.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  125. 

102.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  124. 

103.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  118. 

104.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  125. 

105.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  346. 

106.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  245. 

107.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  267-8. 

108.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  Ill,  pp.  234-5. 

109.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  167. 

110.  Ratzel,!.  c.  II,  p.  229. 

111.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  I,  p.  128. 

112.  Weber's  JVeltgeschichte,  III,  p.  163. 

113.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  pp.  702-3. 

114.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  712;  cf.  Schneider,  Kultur 
und  Denken  der  alien  Mgypier,  Leipzig,  1907,  p.  38. 

115.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  599. 

116.  Ratzel,  1.  e.  II,  p.  362. 

117.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  344. 

118.  Meitzen,  1.  c.  II,  p.  633. 

119.  Inama-Sternegg,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  140-1. 

120.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  V,  p.  84. 

121.  Cf.  the  detailed  exposition  of  this  in  F.  Oppen- 
heimer's  Grossgrundeigentum  und  die  soziale  Frage, 
Book  II,  Chap.  3. 


300  THE  STATE 

122.  Mommsen,  1.  c.  Ill,  pp.  234-5. 

123.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  771. 

124.  Meitzen,  1.  c.  I,  pp.  362f. 

125.  Inama-Sternegg,  1.   c.   I,  pp.   373,   386. 

126.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer's  Gross grundeigentum,  p. 
272. 

127.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  706. 

128.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  503. 

129.  Ratzel,  1.  c.  II,  p.  518. 

130.  Meitzen,  1.  c.  I,  p.  579:  "At  the  time  of  the 
compilation  of  the  Lex  Salica,  the  ancient  racial  nobility 
had  been  reduced  to  common  freemen  or  else  had  been 
annihilated.  The  officials,  on  the  other  hand,  are  rated 
at  threefold  wergeld,  600  solidi,  and  if  one  be  'puer 
regis'  300  solidi." 

131.  Thurnwald,  1.  c.  p.  712. 

132.  Inama-Sternegg,  1.  c.  II,  p.  61. 

133.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  705. 

134.  "The  larger  camps  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine 
obtained  their  municipal  annexes  partly  through  army 
suttlers  and  camp  followers,  and  particularly  through 
the  veterans,  who  after  the  completion  of  their  services 
remained  in  their  accustomed  quarters.  Thus  there 
arose  distinct  from  the  military  quarters  proper,  a  dis- 
tinct town  of  cabins  (Canabce).  In  all  parts  of  the 
Empire,  and  especially  in  the  various  Germanias,  there 
arose  in  the  course  of  time,  from  these  camps  of  the 
legionaries,  and  particularly  from  the  headquarter  sta- 
tions, cities  in  the  modern  sense." — Mommsen,  1.  c.  V, 
p.  153. 

135.  Eisenhardt,  Gesch.  der  National  OeJconomie,  p. 
9:     "Aided  by  the  new  and  more  liquid  means  of  pay- 


NOTES  301 

ment  in  cash^  it  became  possible  to  call  into  being  a  new 
and  more  independent  establishment  of  soldiers  and  of 
officials.  As  they  were  paid  only  periodically  it  became 
impossible  for  them  to  make  themselves  independent  (as 
the  feudatories  had  done)  and  then  to  turn  on  their  pay- 
master." 

136.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  773, 

137.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  699. 

138.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  709. 

139.  Thurnwald,  1.  c,  p.  711. 

140.  Cf.  with  this  F.  Oppenheimer's  Grossgrundeigen- 
tum  etc.,  Book  11^  Chap.  3. 

14-1.  "Tendency,  i.  e.,  a  law,  whose  absolute  exe- 
cution is  checked  by  countervailing  circumstances,  or 
is  by  them  retarded,  or  weakened."  Marx,  Kapital,  vol. 
Ill,  p.  215. 

142.  Cf.  the  excellent  work  of  Peter  Kropotkin,  Mu- 
tual Aid  in  its  Development. 

143.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Die  Siedlungsgenossen- 
schaft  etc.,  Berlin,  1896,  and  his  Grossgrundeigentum 
und  soziale  Frage,  Berlin,  1898. 

144.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Bevolherungsgesetz  des 
T.  R.  Malthus.  Darstellung  und  Kritik,  Berlin-Bern, 
1901. 

145.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Grundgesetz  der  Marxschen 
Gesellschaftslehre,  Darstellung  und  Kritik,  Berlin,  1903. 

146.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Grundgesetz  der  Marxschen 
Gesellschaftslehre,  Part  IV.,  particularly,  the  twelfth 
chapter:     "Tendency  of  the  Capitalistic  Development." 

147.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Grossgrundeigentum  und 
soziale  Frage,  Berlin,  1898.  Book  I,  Chapter  2,  Sec- 
tion 3,  "Philosophy  of  the  Social  Body,"  pp.  57  et  seq. 


802  THE  STATE 

148.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Grossgrundeigentum,  Book 
II,  Chap.  2,  Sec.  S,  p.  322. 

149.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Grossgrundeigentum^  Book 
II,  Chap.  3,  Sec.  4,  especially  pp.  423  et  seq, 

150.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  "Die  Utopie  als  Tatsache/' 
Zeitschrift  fur  Sozial-Wissenschaft,  1899,  Vol.  II  -pp. 
190  et  seq. 

151.  Cf.  F.  Oppenheimer,  Siedlungsgenossenschaft, 
pp.  477  et  seq. 

152.  Cf.  Andre  Siegfried,  La  democratie  en  Nouvelle 
Zelande,  Paris,  1904. 


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